Maria's Adventures: Smash Worlds Tournament
by FourthWallBreaker
Summary: After the events of the third story, Maria was given an invitation to a tournament which involves certain persons from across worlds - both ones that she has visited and ones she has yet to see. However, things are not as harmless as they seem...
1. Chapter 1

**Greetings, readers! Welcome to my little corner of the Multiverse! ("Little" being a relative term) Today, we're going to looking into something that Scribe gave Maria at the end of the last installment - the ****_Capcom Kingdom_****.**

**Nexia: Considering that Scribe was reluctant to show us this for some reason...**

**And it took me a little while to get through the initial scenes. *shrugs* At least I managed to barrel through until Scribe sent the info over.**

**Nexia: Yeah, well, you weren't doing very well until she sent it.  
Yeah, yeah. Pfft. *waves carelessly***

**Anyway, here you guys are! Don't forget to tell me what you think!**

**Chapter 1**

Maria walked into the main lobby of a building, a blue portal closing up behind her. "Well, looks like I made it without a hitch," she remarked.

The teen was now in a large room that might be related to the waiting area in an airport, because of its size. There were flags hanging from the ceiling that represented different nations, but they weren't Earth's nations. In fact, if you kept yourself secluded from reading, playing video games - the entire world, really - you probably wouldn't recognize any of them.

Maria looked down at the silver card she held. On it was a globe - the planet Earth - and a white ribbon going around it with "Smash Worlds Tournament" in gold letters. Underneath, in bold, blue letters, were the words "You're Invited!"

"I wonder where the nearest hotel is," Maria muttered. "There's got to be a place to stay through this whole thing." She pushed a stray strand of brown hair out of the way of her blue eyes, pulled on her red shirt and orange jacket, then adjusted her red backpack and started to look around for someone familiar.

"Hey!" someone called. Maria looked over in the direction of a voice, catching sight of a waving blue hedgehog.

"Hey, Sonic!" Maria greeted.

The hedgehog walked over, slipping by a boy with wings wearing a white, robe-like article of clothing and carrying a bow.

"It's been awhile since that Team Galactic problem," Sonic remarked.

"Yes, it has been," Maria agreed, a grin on her face. "How are you and Sally doing?"

"Great!" Sonic replied. "She's actually here, too."

"Really?" Maria gained an excited look. "Where is she?"

"With the others, finding our rooms. Do you know where yours is?"

Maria shook her head. "I'm afraid not; this is my first time here, and I've only seen the battles that you guys have done. I'm kind of wondering is they even have rooms around here."

Sonic smirked. "They've got rooms, all right." He pointed to the flags. "Those kind of help. Just find the flag that seems to suit you, and you'll find your way to your room using the entrance below."

Maria looked up at the flags, giving each of them a better look. There was a green flag with an acorn that had Sonic's logo on it, a few flags with different PokeBalls on them, a pink flag with a red Shroom, and a few flags that seemed slightly out of place in this area: a white flag with two Kingdom Keys crossed to form an X, a red flag with the Avengers logo in a steel color, another red flag with the letters JLA in blue, a black flag with the red Eggman logo, a sky blue flag with a yellow W logo (she shuddered when she saw that one), and a white flag with a blue helmet and a pair of wrenches crossed over it. And then there was a flag that looked like it was on fire, with a PokeBall that had Sonic's logo emblazoned on it.

Maria pointed to the last flag mentioned. "I get the feeling that one's mine." She looked at Sonic. "But what about the others? They usually aren't thought of when this place is mentioned."

Sonic shrugged. "I think that MH decided that it was time to combine both of the competitions."

"That certainly explains the new name," Maria remarked.

A shadow suddenly appeared behind Maria and jumped the girl, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Maria!" exclaimed a boy with brown, spiky hair.

"Sora, get off!" Maria exclaimed, laughing.

The KeyBlade Master complied, removing himself from his position on top of her. "It's been a while," he remarked.

"It certainly has," Maria agreed as she got up. Noticing the confused look on Sonic's face, she made a quick introduction. "Sonic, this is Sora, one of the seven KeyBlade Masters in the Disney Kingdom. Sora, this is Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the Heroes of Mobius, and the fastest thing alive."

Sora put his hands behind his head and adopted a more relaxed pose. "Fastest thing alive, huh? That's pretty cool."

Sonic nodded, a huge grin in his face. "You bet it is! What can a KeyBlade Master do?"

Sora dropped his hands and summoned his Kingdom Key. "We use these to destroy creatures called Heartless and make sure that the Darkness doesn't overcome the Light." He nodded in Maria's direction as the weapon vanished. "Maria and her sister helped us out on a couple different worlds a while back." Sora looked around. "Speaking of Liz, where is she?"

Maria shrugged. "She wasn't invited. Plus, she thinks the whole thing was nothing more than a dream. I kinda stopped trying to convince her after a couple days."

Sora sighed. "Ah, well. I guess she wasn't meant to remember."

"Or travel to other worlds," Sonic added.

Sora looked at her in surprise. "You've gone to other worlds?"

Maria nodded. "Oh, sure. I met Sonic after the SEGA and Nintendo Kingdoms fused accidentally through one planet. And I've been in the Capcom Kingdom on their version of Earth, too." She scanned the crowd, searching for old friends. "Speaking of which, who came with you, Sora?"

"Riku, Kairi, Lea, Aqua, Terra, and Vent," Sora listed. "Leon, King Mickey, and the others are keeping on eye on the worlds while we're gone."

Sonic let out a whistle. "Bring a whole army, why don't you?"

"And who did you bring?" Maria asked.

"Sal, Tails, Knux, Shadow, Amy, Julie-Su, and then there's Scarlet, Midnight, and Magenta, along with our Pokemon teams," Sonic listed.

"And you said I'd brought an army," Sora noted, chuckling.

"I guess that Brendan and Black are here too, then," Maria noted.

Sonic nodded. "They've already gone off to find they're rooms."

Sora scanned the flags. "What do the rest of the flags represent?" he asked.

"They all represent the different nations, or people, that have come here to compete," Maria explained. She pointed to the Eggman flag. "For instance, it's obvious that Dr. Eggman's - or, Kintobor's - in the area," she remarked.  
Sonic nodded. "We had to ride with him. Do you realize how annoying it gets when your ex-number one enemy is asking you about the last competition?"

"Try working around anvils," someone muttered. Maria's head turned to see a man with red, spiky hair in a black robe. "Hey, Maria."

"Hey, Lea," Maria greeted. "Why did you have to work around anvils?"

"Three siblings that look like either cats or dogs." The redhead looked annoyed. "You'll probably see them later."

Maria nodded, a slight smirk coming over her face as she realized what the KeyBlade user was referring to. She looked around, as if expecting to see anyone else familiar.

"I wonder who's got that one?" Lea asked, pointing to the flag with the fire, PokeBall, and Sonic's logo. "Whoever it is, they're probably pretty strong."

"I think it all depends on peoples' opinions," Maria remarked, not bothering to mention that it was hers. She figured it'd probably be better if she surprised him.

Sonic looked at a watch that was hidden under his left glove. "Oh, boy. We'd better split. Dinner's going to be in a couple hours, and we should get our rooms settled in before then."

"Where is dinner?" Maria asked.

"Don't worry about where it is," the Mobian replied. "There's a warp panel in your room that'll take you there. It should be marked with 'Dining Hall'." Sonic then took off for the Mobian flag and disappeared.

"We'd better get going, too," Sora remarked. "I'm not one to miss dinner."

"Nor I," Lea agreed. "See ya later, Maria."

"See ya," Maria replied. She ran for the flag with what was now her new logo and walked through the doorway underneath.

Maria let out a whistle as she entered her temporary bedroom. "Man, these guys thought of everything," she noted.

The room's walls were painted a pale orange, and the carpet was a bright yellow, with a pair of PokeBall and Sonic logo rugs. There was only one bed (queen-sized), and it had a red staff with a phoenix head with a flaming background on the top cover. There was also a nightstand nearby, with a digital alarm clock. There was also a door that was opposite to the entrance, which suggested the location of a bathroom.

Maria dropped her backpack on the bed and started to look around for the warp panel Sonic had mentioned. She soon found it, spewing yellow light from one corner of the room. On the wall nearby, it said, "Food be this way," in a sprawling type of handwriting that was nearly impossible to read.

Maria walked onto the warp panel, and found herself standing in what looked like a large dining hall, with the same flags from the entry hall hanging on the walls. The entire room itself looked like someone had ripped a hole in time and brought the room from a castle in the Middle Ages. Already, people were sitting in some of the high-backed, ornate wooden chairs.

The teen looked around, then caught sight of three figures waving in her direction: a scarlet-furred Mobian, with echidna dreadlocks, hedgehog spines, and two fox tails; a magenta-colored Mobian, whose fur darkened to black on both her spines and her dreadlocks; and a midnight-furred Mobian with hedgehog spines.

"Hey, guys!" Maria greeted.

"Hi, Maria," the scarlet-furred Mobian replied. A small, blue and white creature that looked like a squirrel scampered across the floor and up onto her shoulder. "It's been awhile. Sonic said that he managed to see you earlier."

Maria nodded. "Yeah; he managed to meet some of my other friends while I was at it. So, any idea where we're going to sit?"

"I think that they're marked somehow," the midnight-furred Mobian stated, motioning to the chairs. "Maybe with what was on those flags earlier or something."

"Hey!" called a voice.

Heads turned to see what looked like a weasel with fins and a split tail pointing to three chairs. A large, blue and red dragon stood behind him.

"You found our seats, Zel?" the midnight-furred Mobian asked.

Zel nodded. "Yeah; they're marked with our PokeBalls."

"Any idea who has the Moltres head?" the dragon inquired.

"I think that could be me," Maria admitted. She walked over to the chair, which was next to one marked with a simple PokeBall, and examined the mark on the chair. It looked exactly like the phoenix head on the staff on her bed. "Yeah; that's me."

"Why would you have that, though?" the dragon asked.

"The staff, Drake," Maria reminded the dragon. She pulled the chair back and sat down, the three Mobians following suit.

"This place is pretty incredible, don't you agree?" asked a boy with brown hair to Maria's right.

"I'd have to say so," Maria agreed, looking over at the boy. Blue eyes met blue eyes, and the two grinned.

"Gotten any upgrades lately?" Maria inquired.

The boy shook his head. "No. You?"

Maria shook her head. "I think the only person really authorized to do that is Dr. Light."

"Which reminds me that he was planning on adding a few things the next time he gets the chance," the boy stated. "He's here now, actually."

Maria started to look around. "Where?"

The boy pointed to his left, where a man with a large, white beard and wearing a white suit was arguing with a man with blond hair and in a red and black costume of sorts with a helmet across the table from him.

"You'll have to ask him about it later," the boy amended. "He's a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Maria nodded. "Sure; I can wait."

A loud bell suddenly went off at one end of the table, and everyone's heads turned to their right in order to see what was going on. Maria smirked when she saw the creature at the end of the table.

"_My friends and fellow Battlers,"_ a purple cat-like creature stated calmly, "_on behalf of the Hands, I bid you welcome. To those who do not know me, I am Mewtwo."_ He nodded in the direction of a pair of boys sitting near him - specifically to his left. Behind them stood a large, green snake and a green lizard with what looked like it had a green pine cone for a tail. "_You may thank Brendan Birch and Hilbert Black for my being here. They convinced me to return and participate once again."_

There were great cheers from some of the more experienced "Battlers," as Mewtwo had called them. Maria couldn't help but clap with them.

The boy in the blue, zipped up jacket sank in his seat a little. The other, his outfit practically screaming Hoenn, grinned at the applause.

"Relax, Black," the boy told his companion. "There's nothing wrong with being clapped at."

"He used my first name," Black growled. "Do you have any idea about how much I dislike that name?"

"_Now that we are all gathered,"_ Mewtwo continued, "_let us eat!"_

Instantly, the table was covered in food where there hadn't been any - fruits, vegetables, meats, and drinks from all across the worlds, some of which were unrecognizable to Maria, seeing as she didn't know enough about certain places.

"So, traveled anywhere?" the boy asked.

"I've been staying at home," Maria replied. She grabbed a handful of berries that looked like blue oranges. "No one knows about my abilities there, though, except for my Mom and Dad, and it's getting harder to keep things hidden for my siblings."

Scarlet, who was sitting on Maria's left, looked around her to get a better look at the boy. "Who's that, Maria?"

Maria grinned. "Scarlet, I'd like you to meet Rock, one of the members of the Capcom Kingdom." She looked over at Rock. "Rock, this is Scarlet Igel, a human who was transformed into a Mobian and lives in the Nintendo Kingdom, on the Pokemon planet, now Mobius."

"So you're one of Tails' friends, then!" Rock identified.

Scarlet nodded. "You're the kid who wore the blue armor, right?"

Rock nodded. "I figured it might be a good idea if I show up in civilian clothes, rather than my armor. This way, no one knows who I actually am until I get into my first match."

Maria nodded. "Smart move. That way, you can really surprise them." She looked over at Dr. Light and the man he was arguing with. Maria couldn't quite make out what they were arguing about, so she asked Rock, "Any idea what they're arguing about?"

Rock shrugged. "Apparently, that man over there has these things called 'Pym Particles' in him, and they allow him to grow and shrink at will. Dr. Light doesn't think such things are possible."

At the mentioning of the name "Pym," Maria jumped in her seat a little. Grabbing what looked like a ham sandwich, she said, "Oh, it's possible. The man who invented them, Dr. Henry Pym, used them in order to keep villains in a miniature prison called the Big House. When all of them broke out, he then used them to help fight crime as the 'AntMan.'" She looked over at the man on the other side of the table. He looked like Dr. Pym, but there was something different about him. Maria then scanned the table, and spotted a man clad in yellow and black, sitting in between a woman with a yellow and black dress with an antennae-like apparatus on her head and a man in purple with a quiver of arrows across his back.

"After a little while, Pym dropped fighting crime and went back to his scientific studies," Maria continued. "Then there was some sort of accident in his lab - an explosion, which seemed to completely destroy him. A lot of people thought he was dead, but he actually wasn't - he reemerged into the crime-fighting universe as 'Yellowjacket,' and started fighting crime anew. However, instead of being a pacifist and trying to turn the bad guys to the good side, he was a bit more of a loose cannon and seemed to actually want to fight, rather than stand on the sidelines." She motioned to the man she had spotted earlier.

"That's Dr. Pym over there, then?" Rock asked, intrigued.

Maria nodded. "But that side of him doesn't come up all that often. The explosion in his lab was symbolic - it showed that he was 'killing Hank Pym,' as he himself put it. So, leave off calling him Dr. Pym for now."

Rock nodded. "So, who's that guy?" He motioned to the man that Maria thought looked a little like Dr. Pym.

"That's...Scott Lang, the new Ant-Man," Maria replied. "He's got Pym Particles in him, too, as well as his daughter, Cassie, who calls herself Stature." She looked around for a girl with a blond ponytail and the Ant-Man costume, but didn't find her. "Cassie must be back at home, keeping an eye on things."

Rock smirked. "And you know all about this the way you knew about me, right?"

"Right. I kinda want to get introduced properly later, but I don't want to be a bother, either, like a fan girl who wants a hair clipping or something weird like that."

Scarlet smirked. "Would you do something like that?"

Maria gave the Mobian a playful shove. "As if! This is a tournament, remember? We came here to test our skills against people from other places. This is no fan club meeting."

The three laughed.

Dr. Light took note of the merry laughter, and paused in his argument to look over at the kids. "And what do you three find funny?" he inquired, a twinkle in his eye.

Maria smiled. "It's not really anything," she replied in a careless manner. "But, I must ask, why are you arguing with that man over there?"

"He thinks that Rock isn't who I say he is, and I think that it's impossible for technology to allow for what he says it can do," Dr. Light explained.

Maria looked Lang over. "It seems to me that it would be best to prove to him that what you say is true, and ask him for proof."

Lang, who had overheard her, looked in Maria's direction. "I would prefer that, however, the dining hall wouldn't be a very good idea for it."

"_Actually, I think it's a very good idea."_

Maria practically jumped out of her seat. "Chaos, do you have to do that?"

The (now named) Psychic-Type Pokemon chuckled with amusement. "_I like to see you startled once and a while."_ He then continued, "_The Hands designed this place with some entertainment in mind, originally. And, considering how dry we are with conversation, it wouldn't be all that bad if you decided to do a Double Battle."_

Lang seemed to get where Chaos was going with this. So did the others who had been pulled into the conversation.

"Who against whom?" Maria inquired, slightly interested.

"_Let's try AntMan vs. Rock and..."_ Chaos looked around before spotting the other two that he wanted to see in action. "_Ike vs. Meta Knight."_

The Kirby-like warrior from Dream Land looked up from his plate, which was covered in pastries, and exchanged glances with the blue-haired man in uniform next to him.

The man grinned. "I'm up for it. How about you?"

"Let's see your blade dance, boy."

The two got up and moved over to a large, empty space in the dining hall. They then took out their swords and started to sword fight.

Lang grabbed his helmet and got up, as did Rock, and they went over to the area, as well, but hesitated before joining in.

"Pick a side," Ike called out. "So long as you're against each other!" He was pushed to the ground by one of Meta Knight's attacks, only to push back. The two combatants started to circle each other.

Lang placed the helmet one his head and walked over to stand by Ike. He looked Rock over, the ant-like headgear hiding his face.

"And how do you fight?" Ike inquired, looking over at Rock.

As if in answer, Rock's appearance changed. It started on his head, where a blue helmet materialized out of nowhere, and continued down his body, turning his blue T-shirt and shorts into a full-body, blue jumpsuit. His right arm was caught in the transformation, as well, becoming some sort of blaster.

"This Mega Blaster has taken down creatures tougher than me, and I've still survived," Rock told Lang. "Let's see how you do."

A figure in a fancy-looking suit stared at Rock in astonishment from his seat to the left of where Lang had been sitting a moment before. The triangular-shaped glass in his hand almost fell out of its perch between his fingers, but he caught it.

Maria caught sight of half the look on the man's face and giggled, causing the figure to lock his brown eyes with her blue ones.

"What is it that you find so funny?" he demanded.

"You, Stark," Maria replied with a wide grin. "You've seen otherworld tech before, haven't you? Why are you so surprised at Rock for his?"

Tony Stark's eyes narrowed. "Who are you, and how do you know who I am?"

Maria smiled. "The name's Maria White. How I know who you are is a bit of a long story, and you probably won't believe it."

Stark smirked. "Try me."

Maria sighed, smiled, and said, "Where I come from, you and your team are featured in comic books and at least two TV shows that I know of. There are a couple video games and movies, too."

Stark looked surprised as behind him Ike and Meta Knight started slashing with their swords again while Lang and Rock continued to circle each other. "I find that rather hard to believe."

Maria smirked. "Says the man who has traveled to Asgard and came back still in one piece."

Scarlet looked between the two as Rock started to charge up his Mega Blaster as he continued to move. "Asgard? Where's that?"

"It's a city that's lived in by people who might represent gods in human form," Maria replied. "For instance, Thor is the god of thunder, and he wields a hammer that can be lifted only by him."

Stark stared. "And you knew about that how?"

"Same way I know about you, plus he's talked about in the ancient mythology of my world," Maria stated in passing.

"Hah!" Rock exclaimed, firing off a large sphere of energy in Lang's direction. The Avenger dodged, getting grazed by the attack as it went by and hit the wall.

Lang hissed in pain, grabbing his left arm. Chaos took note of this.

"_Don't worry,"_ the Pokemon stated. "_In this present location, when in battle, your wounds are only temporary at best. Other than the main hall and your rooms, and at certain times, this place, the entire palace is practically littered with nanotech that allows your body to heal much more quickly than normal means, in some cases. Of course, that all depends on how strong the attack was and where it hit."_

Maria watched as Lang got up, still holding onto his arm. Almost immediately, he began to grow in size until he was almost as tall as the hall.

"Mother of Arceus..." Scarlet murmured.

Maria shrugged. "I've seen it."

Scarlet shot her a curious look, then realized what Maria was alluding to. "Oh, right. Video games?"

"Nah. A TV show and a comic book series. I don't know if the AntMan persona has actually made it into the video game realm."

Lang lifted his foot and was about to crush Rock when the Reploid fired a shot and moved out of the way as the giant started hopping around on his one undamaged foot. That is, until Meta Knight slashed it, and the giant human collapsed onto his knees.

"Pull yourself together!" Ike barked. "We'll never win like this." He charged Rock as he continued, "Switch dance partners!"

"Right," Lang replied through gritted teeth. He glared down at Meta Knight, who glared back up at him. They then started a game of whack-a-mole, with Lang's clenched fists as the hammers.

"Hold still!" Lang growled down at the swordsman.

The Meta Knight didn't reply; instead, he unfurled his wings and flew up to Lang's face, swinging his sword quickly, leaving marks on a face that looked like the size of scratches from a distance. The giant let out a low growl in response - at least, it could have been a low growl if he had been human-sized - and he lunged forward and tried to grab Meta Knight. Mere seconds later, a large blast of blue energy hit him in the face, causing him to fall back to crash on the floor.

Maria's gaze moved sharply from Lang to where the source of the blast might have come from. She caught sight of Rock with his Mega Buster aimed in Lang's direction, Ike looking like he had been tripped and was very unhappy because of it.

"_Enough!_" Chaos called, appearing on the battlefield, holding his arms out in case the combatants decided to try and charge at each other. "_That was a good test of strength. Save what energy that remains for when the tournament begins tomorrow. You are going to need it."_

Rock kept his Buster up for a moment longer, studying Chaos for a moment. He dropped his arm pretty quickly, however, and after his armor had been switched out for the civilian clothes, he gave a nod. It took longer for Lang to shrink back to average human size, but he was not covered over in scratches and possible burns from the attacks that he had been hit with.

Ike got to his feet as Meta Knight came over. The two observed each other for a moment, then gave a nod and returned to their places at the table and started to dig in.

Rock hurried back to his place, and Maria gave him a grin as soon as he had sat down.

"Not bad," she praised. "You held yourself up pretty well against Lang and Ike."

"It was pretty hard, though," Rock responded. "I can tell that they're seasoned fighters."

"At least, Ike is," Scarlet noted. "His swordwork kind of reminds me of some Pokemon attacks - Meta Knight's, too."

"Pokemon attacks?" Dr. Light looked over at Scarlet with a curious expression. "Would you mind elaborating on that?"

"The both of us can explain, Doc," Scarlet responded, motioning to herself and Maria. "Maria knows more than I do, though."

"You flatter me," Maria replied, looking a little embarrassed. "You're the Pokemon Ranger - you should know more than a Trainer."

"You got turned into a Pokemon - that gives you more experience than I could ever get."

Dr. Light and Rock exchanged glances as the two girls glared at each other with.  
Maria was the first to break away, a smirk appearing on her face as she turned to look at Rock and his creator. "You remember when Tails and Kintobor came by?"

**Time Break!**

Maria stepped off the warp panel and into her sleeping quarters, a grin spread across her face and a warm feeling in her chest. The conversation she had gotten into with Rock, Scarlet, and Dr. Light turned out to be one of the best ways to get the attention of other competitors - as well as a great way to start up a conversation. Stark had instantly been intrigued by the idea that creatures that looked like Earthen mammals were capable of doing things that superheroes were usually attributed with. Then he had asked about Scarlet's appearance and they got into a conversation on Mobians, which got Sonic somehow involved. They had wrapped up the conversation with connecting Chaos with the water creature Sonic had once fought before the mentioned Psychic-Type had sent them all back to their rooms to relax before the start of the festivities the next day.

This was something that Maria was definitely planning on doing. She dropped herself onto her bed and, grabbing her backpack, opened it up and pulled out an electronic device that looked like an electronic tablet. Eagerly, Maria turned it on.

"Let's see if there's any Internet connection to my home world in this place," she murmured. Mere minutes later, she was grinning hugely and chuckling as she scrolled through page after page of Internet hilarity. **[a/n: otherwise known as FanFiction to those of us who happen to find...certain stories hilarious (I'm not naming names, but you can find a few in my Favorites!)]**

**Did you guys catch the hints I threw in there about the other worlds that are involved? If you can name them, I'll give you figurative cookies! (Peanut butter, snicker doodle - your choice!)**

**Also, I WANT to get better. So I WANT to hear what you guys have to SAY about what I've written. I will take what you give me - and I'm not afriad of people yelling at me, because, like I said on my profile, Maria will eat any trolling flames for breakfast. So there.**


	2. 1st Challenge!

**Greetings, readers from across the Multiverse! Here's the second chapter!**

**eclipse - Awesome! I look forward to reading what you're going to put up! Hope you like the next few chapters!**

**Chapter 2**

The next morning, Maria awoke recharged and reenergized.

"Feels like when I slept in those beds that recharged not only my energy, but my Pokemon team's," Maria noted as she slipped out of bed.

Out of habit, she rearranged the sheets so that they looked at least somewhat like the bed hadn't been slept in. She figured that someone might come by later and fix her handiwork, but Maria didn't mind if they didn't.

As she looked around the room, she noticed that a couple things had changed: the sign that was next to the warp panel had been switched out for a neater script, the sign now reading "Dining hall," and there was some sort of video screen next to it that looked like some sort of message board.

Curious, Maria walked over to the message board and pressed the power button that was in the center of the bottom of the frame. It instantly sprang to life, a small groups of paragraphs appearing on the screen:

_"Welcome to the Smash Worlds Tournament!_

_"This contest is run very much like a series of games that will test people from across the Multiverse. Some will win, some will lose - that comes with any kind of tournament._

_"As this is a different type of tournament than Marvel vs. Capcom or Smash Brothers, things are going to be run a little differently: a challenge will start the tournament, and it will involve an area from a world that most of you are most likely familiar with, if this was covered in the conversations you had the night before._

_"The place is a Mystery Dungeon. The rules are simple: get to the end without getting knocked out, and you will continue to the next challenge. You may use items you find along the way to assist you_

_"The challenge starts after breakfast. Good luck!"_

The message was left without a signature, and after about two minutes, the entire message disappeared as the message board shut itself off.

Maria blinked, looking a little bewildered upon seeing the message. Seconds later, her eyes widened. "Mystery Dungeon - they're taking a maze from the Pokemon World!" She turned and dashed for the warp panel, appearing in the dining hall soon after.

Maria quickly made her way to her seat, noticing that there were a few people at the table already - Scarlet and Keith among them. When she plopped down into her seat, food - french toast - appeared on the plate that had been set there, and she promptly started eating. She knew that she would be needing the energy.

Scarlet looked over upon hearing Maria's silverware clank against the plate. "Hey. You look like you're in a hurry."

Maria paused mid-bite and looked over at the Mobian. "Yeah. You should eat something, at least. According to the message board-thingy in my room, we're going into a Mystery Dungeon today."

The midnight-furred Mobian that Maria knew to be Keith looked surprised. "A Mystery Dungeon? How did they managed that?"

"I don't know, but it probably has something to do with spacial warping - most likely thanks to Palkia."

"What is a Mystery Dungeon, specifically?" Scarlet asked, frowning.

"A maze," Maria replied. "The walls constantly shift, so you can't create a map of it. The number of floors that make up the maze never change, however, but they do vary from place to place - as few as five to as many as one hundred or more. Wild Pokemon hide there, and only four Pokemon can go in as a team at most, depending on their size - Pokemon as large as Dialga are one-man teams, so to speak."

"You said Pokemon, not Trainers," Scarlet stated, a slight frown coming over her face.

Maria nodded. "Pokemon can enter Mystery Dungeons. No one else. If we're going to be entering one for a challenge today, something tells me that we're going to get turned into Pokemon ourselves. Momentarily."

Scarlet and Keith looked at each other.

"Well, so long as it isn't permanent," Scarlet grumbled. "I'd hate to be stuck as a Stunky or something."

"I doubt you'd end up as one of those," Maria responded. "It's got to fit your personality, powers, or appearance. I'm a Vulpix, Sonic's a Sandslash, Knux is a Lucario..." Maria trailed off for a moment. "The trick is figuring out what could fit you, can considering that there's over 600 different species, that's going to be difficult."

Scarlet and Keith started to throw out possible species that either one of them could be while Maria finished off her breakfast and the other participants started to file into the dining hall. There was a soft murmur of conversation as the message was mulled over; Maria didn't bother to add her two cents as Keith and Scarlet were capable of spreading the statement around. There was a yellow blur going around on the opposite end of the table, and Maria thought that it looked oddly familiar.

Chaos suddenly appeared out of nowhere at the head of the table, causing all conversation to stop short.

_"Today, it has been decided that you are to be tested,"_ Chaos stated. _"You are all, thanks to be one of my allies, are going to be transformed into creatures from my home world. It will be temporary, so don't worry about being trapped in a for recent body for the rest of your life."_

"What's the point of the test?" Rock asked, giving the Pokemon a curious look. He seemed to be a little nervous, as well - most likely because of Chaos' appearance.

"_The Hands wish to pair up those who make it through the Mystery Dungeon for the tests that are ahead. They plan to pair you randomly through this test, and as Pokemon, it will be hard for you to identify others. To make it even more difficult to identify others, you will be kept from revealing your name to your fellow competitors."_

A large, blue portal suddenly appeared behind Chaos, and a large, pink and white dragon stepped through, a regal air about him.

_"Greetings,"_ the Pokemon stated. _"I am Palkia, controller of space. I'm here to lend a hand in your little excursion. For those of you who are Pokemon - or have been Pokemon - already, you will remain in your present form or return to the for my you had been in before."_

Maria's gaze moved around quickly. She caught sight of Sonic and Knuckles, further down her side of the table, exchanging glances and looking up at the Dragon/Water-Type with an eager (Sonic) and a curious (Knuckles) look on each of their faces.

_"However, only those present will participate. Meaning that those of you who brought teams of Pokemon will be unable to use them."_

Sonic frowned and snapped his fingers.

Palkia's gaze moved to Dr. Light, who was looking up at him with awe. _"And you will not participate, either. Your creations will be fine on their own."_

Maria stiffened a little, then looked around Dr. Light, catching sight of Roll and Blues, the latter looking like he was indifferent about the whole situation.

Dr. Light looked over at Rock, who gave him a quick nod. The roboticist then turned to look at Palkia and gave a nod. "Very well."

Palkia nodded. _"Good. Now we may begin. You might feel some discomfort as you transform."_

The pink jewel on the Pokemon's arm started to glow, and everything in the dining hall seemed to warp and merge together.

Maria blacked out.

**Line Break**

When Maria came to, she found herself lying on what felt like rock. She started to get up, only to discover that her form had been changed to force her to stand on all four limbs.

After quickly looking herself over, she found that she was indeed a Vulpix.

Maria grinned, delighted. "Familiar form - good. Now to figure out if I'm in a familiar place."

The rest of the world pulled into focus, revealing dark stone walls and an open passage in front of Maria, next to a statue that looked like a beefed-up kangaroo.

Maria trotted over to the kangaroo and tapped on one of the creature's feet. A recorded voice came out of a speaker on the pouch: "This is Spacial Rift."

The Vulpix smirked. "What better place is there for a test? All right. Let's see if I can find a spare Treasure Bag and some Reviver Seeds." She nosed around at the base of the statue, only to come up with nothing.

Maria frowned. "Well, looks like I won't be getting any help from there." She looked over at the opening in the wall in front of her. "I've got no other choice other than to go in unprepared." She trotted over to the opening and entered the Dungeon.

Almost instantly, Maria sensed - and saw - that something was up. There were hardly any Pokemon in the area, and those that were had been knocked out cold. Obviously, someone - or something - had come trough there earlier and decimated the inhabitants, and whoever it was happened to be up ahead.

Maria quickened her pace, running through the narrow passageways and larger corridors that made up the Dungeon. Whoever it was that had knocked out these Pokemon, she was curious about meeting him.

Suddenly, there was a loud roar that shook the air around her, followed not too long after by a thorough ground-shaking, forcing Maria to run in a zig-zag pattern in order to avoid the boulders falling from the walls and the cracks that appeared in the ground, coming from somewhere ahead of her.

Someone's using Earthquake! Maria identified. She sped up her pace as the shaking continued. Could be a Rhyperior, but those aren't seen around here. Neither are Dugtrio or any other Ground-Types. Unless...

Maria came to a screeching halt as the end of the corridor neared and the Earthquake subsided. Cautiously, she stepped forward and into a chamber.

Within it, Magnezone, Electrivire, and Magmortar were either fleeing to other places or lying fainted on the ground. The only Pokemon that was standing was a large blue, mud-fish like creature with white spikes coming out of its cheeks, and red fins on top of its head and serving as a tail.

Maria recognized the Pokemon instantly. _Must be one of the contestants..._ She approached the figure carefully, then sat down a few feet away from him; the Vulpix was surprised that she hadn't remembered that this kind of Pokemon could look so big or intimidating to someone of her present size.  
"Excuse me," Maria calmly stated.

The Pokemon's head turned, and it caught sight of Maria. "Who or what are you supposed to be?" it asked.

Maria made a mental note that the Pokemon was a male before she responded, "I'm a Pokemon known as a Vulpix. As for my real name, you remember what Chaos said before we ended up here."

The Pokemon frowned. "Chaos?"

Maria realized he didn't know who she was referring to. "Mewtwo. I know him by a different name."

"Oh." The large Pokemon brought his head down to get a closer look at Maria. "If you're a Vulpix, then what am I?"

"A Swampert," Maria replied calmly. "You're capable of using attacks that are based off of ground or water elements. I'm a Fire-Type, so I can use fire-based attacks, and my Type is weak to yours."

The Swampert nodded slightly. "I guess I could call you Vulpix, then?"

"For now," Maria replied, nodding in agreement. "And I'll call you Swampert."

She got to her feet and trotted around the larger Pokemon, ears up and alert as she looked around. Spotting another opening, she started trotting over to it. "Come on. We probably don't have much time."

The ground rumbled slightly as Swampert followed. "You've been here before, haven't you?"

"Correct," Maria replied, not bothering to glance back as they entered the corridor. "This place is called Spacial Rift. It is known to be the home of Palkia - the creature that brought us here and changed our forms. I've come down here a couple times to do a few things for the Pokemon in the area."

"Can you-"

"Mystery Dungeons are known to shift and change, so it's impossible to map them. However, I can sense where we can gain access to the next level."

Swampert let out a snort of surprise. "That's useful."

"Comes from a lot of experience in places like this." Maria stopped as they reached another chamber, catching sight of an opening in the ground that had stairs leading down it. "There. That leads to the next floor." She turned around and looked up at Swampert. "We keep going until we reach the floor Palkia's hanging out on, and then we're done. It's going to be difficult, however, considering that we're probably going to be attacked on all sides by wild Pokemon and the other competitors."

"You think that is going to happen?" Swampert frowned.

"You were surrounded by Pokemon that were weak to your Typing before I got to you," Maria pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into someone else."

Swampert let out a grunt, looked around for a moment, then stepped forward and started down the stairs. Maria trotted after him.

The next floor was, once again, the same gray rock as the last floor had been. Only, this time, they were confronted with something new: a pair of figures that didn't look like they belonged in the area.

A black bat with four wings, his eyes a pure white and a yellow stripe wrapped around his middle, was perched on top of a red, silver, and gold metal Pokemon that was levitating. The bat Pokemon looked annoyed.

"You two."

Maria looked up at the bat Pokemon, cocking her head slightly in curiosity.

"Do either of you know anything about what's going on around here?" the bat Pokemon demanded.

_"And what either of us are?"_ the metal Pokemon added.

Maria looked over the two Pokemon for a moment. "The bat Pokemon is a Crobat and you are a Metang. I am a Vulpix and my friend is a Swampert." She nodded to the gray walls as she continued, "This place is called Spacial Rift. It's the home of Palkia, the creature that brought us here." The Vulpix looked back at the two as she continued, "I believe that we have to reach him in the deepest part of the Rift in order for the test to be finished off. The trick is surviving the trip down."

"So we gathered." Crobat took off from his perch, and flew down to get a closer look at Maria. "You've been here before, haven't you." The question was said in such a way that Maria almost mistook it as a statement.

The Vulpix launched into an explanation as to what a Mystery Dungeon was, adding that there were about fifteen floors that they had to get through in Spacial Rift.

"We could end up getting kicked out of the competition if we just hang back and talk," Maria warned. "We have to keep moving."

_"We?"_ Metang blinked. _"Are you suggesting that we work together?"_

Maria looked up at Swampert. "The more of us that stick together, the more likely that we'll end up moving on."

Swampert frowned, then nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. I've found that working in teams can give an advantage."

"I prefer working alone," Crobat responded flatly. He turned and started for an open corridor, only to suddenly stop short a few feet away from Maria when an Electrivire appeared out of nowhere, blocking the entrance.

Swampert started to raise his front feet. "Let me-"

"No!" Maria jumped in front of him. "Metang and I are weak to an Earthquake! Use that and he and I could both be knocked out!"

The Water/Ground-Type paused, then slowly lowered his paws. "What are you suggesting we do to get rid of that thing, then?"

Maria turned to face the Electrivire. "I can take him." She walked forward, stopping in front of Crobat.

The Electrivire stepped forward, as well. Electricity started to travel up and down the Pokemon's arms.

"Extrasensory!" Maria yelled. A psychic wave of energy flowed out from her and into the Electric-Type, causing it to stumble back a little as the energy came back to Maria and formed an illusion around her - that of a larger Vulpix.

Electrivire shook his head, then sent a ball of electricity in Crobat's direction. Swampert moved in front and created a shield of blue energy that had red on the outer edge and a white star in the center.

"Faint Attack!" Maria called. She vanished, then reappeared a moment later when something smacked into the Electrivire, causing it to stumble out of the way of the passage. The Pokemon collapsed a moment later.

The three Pokemon that were with Maria looked at the little Fire-Type in surprise.

_"That's a lot of power for a kid your size,"_ Metang noted.

"I'm a level 80," Maria responded dismissively. "Of course I'd have a lot of power." She turned and looked at the opening, then back at the other three. "Are we going to keep going or not?"

"We're going," Crobat stated flatly. He flew forward into the corridor, Metang following close behind.

"Something tells me that Crobat has seen a lot," Maria remarked to Swampert as they started down the passageway.

"I'm getting the same feeling from you," Swampert responded, looking down at Maria with a curious expression. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Ummm..." Maria frowned. "Seventeen." She looked back, only to see that Swampert had stopped short in surprise. "What?"

"I never thought that someone so young would get pulled into this," Swampert admitted, starting forward again. "It's too -"

"Dangerous?" Maria gave the Water/Ground-Type an amused look. "I've done and seen things that could make you look at me differently." She turned and started forward again, hearing the plodding footsteps of Swampert behind her start up again.

They met up with Crobat and Metang again, only to find the two of them staring down a Ditto who was colored in two different shades of pink. The Normal-Type clearly looked confused and disoriented.

Maria trotted over, her ears straight up as she tried to discern whether or not the Ditto was a threat. It seemed to her that the Pokemon was trying to see the same thing about them, because it hadn't transformed yet.

Or, it didn't know how to transform.

The Ditto looked around warily, watching the other Pokemon approach. When Maria got into a crouch and looked like she was ready to pounce, the Normal-Type let out a yelp and started to take in a deep breath, only to stop short and start coughing.

Maria frowned and cocked her head to one side in confusion, getting out of her crouch and into a sitting position.

Then Ditto pounced, its form suddenly increasing in size as it aimed for Crobat, who flew up to avoid the Pokemon.

Maria reared back, then fired a stream of flames at Ditto, who jumped away to avoid it, putting Metang in the line of fire. The flames parted, however, leaving him unharmed.

"Hey!" Maria barked, glaring daggers at Ditto. "You just made me waste a good Flamethrower!"

Ditto looked at her in alarm upon hearing this.

"Allow me." Crobat brought back his wings, then thrust them forward, creating a large blast of wind that sent Ditto careening. A moment later, the Flying/Poison-Type vanished with a burst of speed, reappearing a moment later with a blast of dark energy as he slammed into Ditto.

The pink blob collapsed, swirls replacing its eyes. It disappeared in a blast of light a moment later.

"Nice use of Gust and Faint Attack," Maria offered, looking up at Crobat. "Have you been in a situation like this before?"

"No," Crobat replied shortly. He looked over at Metang, then flew over to a corridor entrance and stopped there.

Metang glared at Crobat, then let out a sigh and looked over at Maria and Swampert. _"Looks like he wants us to split up. See you at the finish line?"_

"Sure," Maria replied coolly.

Metang gave a nod, then followed after Crobat, both disappearing down the corridor.

"Now what?" Swampert asked, looking down at Maria.

"Now, we find those stairs." Maria closed her eyes, and her ears swiveled towards another corridor - opposite of the one that Crobat and Metang had gone through. Opening her eyes, the Vulpix declared, "That way."

"Are you sure?" Swampert looked back in the direction the other two Pokemon had gone.

"I'm positive." A frown came over Maria's face. "However, there is still a chance that we might end up having to go a different direction. The floors are designed to be mazes, so there's dead ends all over the place."

"Joy," Swampert stated with a deadpan expression.

"Don't worry about it; so long as we move quickly, we should be fine." Maria started off down the corridor confidently, the Water/Ground-Type following close behind. "And if we run into anybody, we do have abilities that we can use to take them out."

"You mean like the earthquakes I can cause?"

"Exactly. That's the name of the attack, as well. Pokemon can have four techniques to use in battle at most, but I've heard rumors of others who have been able to call upon multiple movesets." Maria looked back. "And I saw you put up a Protect shield earlier, so we know at least two of your attacks. You should probably have a Water-Type move in your arsenal, as well, meaning that Magmortar have two things to fear about you."

"What do you mean?"

Maria looked back at Swampert, who had a bemused expression on his face.  
A smirk appeared on her own. "Looks like I'll have to explain to you about Type match-ups."

**So, who do you guys think Maria got partnered up with? I want to hear what you guys think!**

**Also, I'm going to need help coming up with different challenges that they can get into - at least one thing from each world. That's my challenge to you!**


	3. Partners

**I ended up skipping over most of the Mystery Dungeon challenge, guys. Sorry if that makes a few of you unhappy.**

**And eclipse, don't worry about no getting your chapter done yet. This story isn't fully typed out yet, either. **

**Chapter 3**

Maria led Swampert into a large cavern with a scattering of Pokemon as they came off the base of the stairs.

"Hey! Glad to see another group made it!"

The two turned to see a blue Sandslash waving from where he stood next to a red and yellow Linoone. Maria thought his voice was familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had heard him before.

"It wasn't difficult," Maria replied calmly as she and Swampert came over. "I've come down here a few times before."

"You have?" The Linoone gawked in surprise. "How? When?"

"I've traveled to the planet the Spacial Rift is a part of before." The Vulpix shrugged. "It wasn't difficult to get through it."

"Although I had to be careful about using Earthquake," Swampert rumbled.

Sandslash laughed. "Tell me about it! Linoone kept running all over the place, so it was hard to hit the other Pokemon without hitting him."

"And you kept rolling all over the place!" Linoone responded. "You got something for spinning or something?"

The two glared at each other for a moment before starting to run around the chamber at high speed, disrupting the other groups.

"Keep thy running to a minimum!" a large, four-legged beast growled. The thunderclouds on his back roiled in response to the Pokemon's anger.

The Pikachu sitting at the other Electric-Type's feet let out a sigh and shook his head. "I doubt they're going to stop just because you told them, Raikou. They don't seem like the kind to listen. Besides, that Sandslash could take out the both of us."

"And me," Maria added, coming over. She looked up at the Raikou with surprise. "I didn't think that one of the contestants would turn out to be a Legendary."

The Raikou looked somewhat confused. "Legendary?"

"Some Pokemon, although their Types are common, are extremely rare and powerful," the Pikachu explained. "Raikou are known to be capable of controlling thunderstorms."

Raikou looked extremely proud upon hearing this. "I am proud to hear that my form is legend among these creatures." He gave Maria a curious look. "How do you know this, pray tell?"

"I spent some time among the people and Pokemon that inhabit this specific world," Maria replied. "And I'm not going to forget so easily."

Pikachu gave Maria a strange look, like he was trying to figure her out.

Before he could say anything, however, the area was bathed in a bright light, forcing the Pokemon in the area to cover their eyes. As the light faded, the group of Pokemon lowered their paws in order to see where the light had originated from.

"Palkia!" Maria exclaimed, grinning up at the large, pink Water/Dragon-Type.

The Pokemon nodded in acknowledgement at Maria's exclamation. _"You are the contestants who succeeded in reaching this point, and are moving on to the next round. Those who are not moving on are those known as Kirby, Yellow Jacket, AntMan, and many others. They will be allowed to stay if they wish, or return to their worlds."_

The Pokemon present looked at each other, then back at Palkia.

"So, we're going back?" Swampert asked.

As if in response, Palkia let out a roar, and Maria's vision blacked out.

**Line Break**

When Maria came to, she had a minor headache. She rubbed her forehead to try and get rid of the throbbing (showing that she was, indeed, in a human-esque form again) as she sat up to have a look at her surroundings. Much to her surprise, she was back in the dining hall, only the table was gone and replaced with cots. Looking around, Maria took note that the cots were placed in pairs and scattered about the room with figures lying on them starting to stir.

There was a low moan to Maria's left, and her head turned, catching sight of a figure lying on a bed directly next to hers. It was a man in a red, white, and blue costume designed after the American flag, with the only star anywhere on his outfit on his chest. The mask was somewhat like a hood in the way that it was connected to the costume, with what looked like wings on either side of the top of his head, with an "A" right in the middle of his forehead.

Maria sucked in a breath as her headache disappeared. _Why hadn't I made the connection earlier? Of course it was him!_

The man's eyes snapped open, and he sat up slowly, obviously pained with a headache similar to the one Maria had suffered from momentarily.

"You'd think that Palkia could do that without some sort of side-effect," he muttered. He looked over and locked eyes with Maria.

The girl shrugged. "Don't look at me. I don't know how he even managed to make it so that your costume's colors still showed after you'd been transformed." She held out her right hand. "The name's Maria, by the way. Maria White."

The man took her hand and shook it. "Captain America."

Maria's eyes sparked with delight as others around them were coming to. "It's an honor to meet you - now that we're not Pokemon anymore, at least." She chuckled. "Looks like we're going to be working together."

"Looks like it," Cap agreed. His gaze went around the room, watching the pairs wake up. "Where's the bat and the metal thing?"

Maria's gaze went around the cots, stopping when she caught sight of a pair of familiar figures - one of them glaring at the other. A smirk appeared on her face. "Batman and Iron Man. I should have guessed."

Cap gave Maria a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Both have identities that have a lot of money and own enterprises, but Batman - the Crobat - is more serious while Stark is a bit of a playboy both in and out of the suit." A grin spread across Maria's face. "It's going to be interesting to see how Bats handles Stark."

Maria looked around against catching sight of another pair. "There's Pika - the Pikachu. And it looks like..." She let out a short laugh. "I should have guessed that the Raikou was Thor!"

"No! Not you!" came a wail from one side of the room.

Maria's head turned, and her face paled upon seeing who had yelled.

Dr. Wily was looking at a cloaked figure in shock and anger.

"Great," she muttered under her breath, shaken. "I should have known this wasn't going to be easy."

Chaos appeared in the center of the circle of cots. _"Congratulations to those of you who succeeded in moving on. The next challenge will take place tomorrow, but you will be given time to rest and get to know your chosen partner if need be. I know that some of you already know your partners..."_ He looked over at a pair of figures directly; Rock and Roll grinned at each other. _"Consider this good time to explore the area. You may return to the dining hall within a few hours."_

With that, Chaos teleported away, leaving the contestants to converse.

"Well, this is certainly going to be interesting," Maria noted. She looked around the room for a moment before returning her gaze to Cap. "We'd better find something to do, at least. I don't want to sit around waiting for dinner."

"The people who run this place probably have something to remedy that," Cap replied after a moment of thought. He slipped off his cot mere seconds before Maria. "Having a look around wouldn't be a bad idea."

The girl nodded in agreement, and the two walked over to a large doorway and slipped out of the dining hall, arriving at what appeared to be a large park of some sort.

Maria let out a whistle. "Looks like they've got everything." She looked out over the area at a small collection of buildings out in the slightly wooded area.

"Let's go check it out," Cap agreed. He started down the gentle slope towards the collection of buildings, Maria following close behind. "I haven't run into a kid like you before. Have you done something like this?"

"A tournament like this?" Maria shook her head. "I've competed as a Trainer of Pokemon in other places, but not something like this."

"Trainer?" Cap frowned. "Do you live on that world?"

"Me?" Maria shook her head. "No. I've traveled there, but I don't live there. My home isn't one that's had an invite like this before." She glanced down at her form, glad that her holoform was still active.

"Oh?"

Maria looked back at Cap and gave a nod. "While you guys are more famous, most people don't think twice about my world." A smirk appeared on her face. "At least, not before me."

The two reached the collection of buildings, which turned out to be a group of shops, a hotel, and a couple empty places that looked like they were being repurposed.

"Quaint," Maria noted, looking around with a smirk.

"Looks like they pretty much planned everything for the contestants," Cap agreed. He looked over at Maria. "You know, I didn't expect someone like you to get involved with those creatures we were transformed into."

Maria shrugged. "I didn't expect to get transformed into a Vulpix when I went there." She looked over at a white building with a red roof and offered a wave to a few figures that were standing there; the group waved back. "I've actually done a lot of things that I never expected that I would do." Maria looked back at Cap with a somewhat curious expression. "What about you? Ever done anything you didn't expect yourself to do?"

The Avenger frowned slightly, then gave a nod. "When we were sent to those different realms Thor seems to be connected with. I didn't expect myself to end up in the land of the dead..."

Maria frowned slightly. "With...Hel, right?" Cap gave her a curious look, causing her to explain, "I ended up doing some research into ancient Viking myths for a history paper, so I know a few things about what you guys ran into."

"You're still in school?"

"I'm only seventeen, like I said before." Maria shrugged. "The stuff I do just doesn't mess with my 'mild-mannered' schedule like it does for some of you guys." She stopped in front of a building that looked like it was being built into a dojo of some sort, then looked over at Cap. "And by 'some,' I mean those who decided that they'd pretend to have a life besides being heroes."

Cap frowned. "Where do you come from, anyway?"

Maria chuckled lightly. "My home world is connected to everyone else's, but only because we get information from those other worlds though TV shows, comic books, and video games. And that includes yours." She smirked.

Cap looked curious. "So you know about -"

"Your origins? Yeah. Same with the rest of the Avengers and the others here." Maria shrugged. "It's kind of a given to know that at home."

Cap frowned. "So you're at an advantage against the other contestants."

Maria frowned, but then her eyes widened. "Yeah, in a way, you're right - I know things about everyone else that they've kept secret. That could put us at an advantage." She frowned again. "But that wouldn't exactly be fair to everyone else..."

"Keep in mind that there are villains here as well as the rest of us." Cap looked over one shoulder and caught sight of Bowser stomping through town, a miniature version of him toddling after the large turtle-like monster.

Maria glanced back and allotted herself a slight smile. "Bowser and his son aren't going to be a problem. A pair of plumbers who are brothers can take him out by slamming him in the head multiple times with large hammers." She shrugged. "Mario and Luigi can handle him if he gets to be more villainous than recommended."

"It's not him that I'm worried about," Cap replied with a somewhat dark tone.  
Maria looked up at him with a curious expression, then saw that he was looking elsewhere. Following his gaze, she caught sight of a dark figure slip out of sight. The edge of a bit of fabric appeared in her vision for a second, causing her to smirk.

"Batman's no threat," Maria stated calmly. "He's another hero, like you and the Avengers. Started out solo in Gotham, his hometown, but now he's a member of the Justice League. He likes to keep tabs on possible opponents, that's all."

"You sound like you know him pretty well."

Maria shrugged, then started to walk around again, Cap following with a curious expression. "Batman was the first hero that I really came across, and I know a lot about him: his past, his gear, the names of his allies." She glanced back, suspecting that the Dark Knight was following her. "I'm not planning on saying anything about him unless I have to, though."

"Same with everyone else?"

"Unless they give me permission, I'm not planning on saying anything." Maria sent Cap a smirk. She looked around again at the buildings. "We should probably be talking about strategies and techniques instead of this stuff."

"Or, seeing as I'm at a disadvantage, you could tell me about yourself."

Maria let out a laugh. "Sure, I could do that. But there are some things that I would prefer to keep secret." She smiled slightly, then stated, "I first got into this whole 'superhero' business by accident, mainly because of a certain fat cat who was created by Walt Disney when he started making cartoon shorts..."

**Time Break**

"...and that's why I know so much about being a Pokemon," Maria finished as she and Cap started up the slope towards the dining hall.

"That's some story," Cap stated. "I wouldn't have believed it if we hadn't been turned into them ourselves."

Maria nodded slightly. "Yeah, it's that kind of situation. What really gets me, though, is that my sister doesn't remember what happened when she and I went through Disney's corner of the universe. For some reason, the whack we got to the back of the head affected her more than it did me..." She frowned while her mind started to go through all sorts of complex equations.

Cap took note of the look on her face and shook his head. "From what I've learned, you can never underestimate fate. You were meant to remember."

Maria looked up at the Avenger as they reached the door that led into the dining hall. "Yeah, you're probably right. I seem to have had all sorts of incidents so far that have ended up with me on top. It's just...strange, how things have ended out." She shrugged.

The two entered the dining hall, the sunlight slanting through the entrance with a golden hue. Already, others were in the area, looking at a new setup with slight confusion: the long table had been separated into smaller ones and were scattered around the room. Chaos was floating around, directing groups of figures to certain tables.

"Hey, Chaos," Maria called out as she and Cap approached the Mewtwo. "What's with the new set-up?"

_"To help the remaining contestants get to know each other, we've arranged it so that contestants and their combat partners can get to know those of worlds that are not their own." _He nodded to Maria. _"As you are going to be treading on familiar ground, I doubt you will have any problem with this set-up."_

"No problem at all," Maria confirmed with a grin.

Cap looked around the room, taking note that the Avengers were scattered around the tables with the other figures. "Where are we going to be sitting tonight, then?"

_"The Mobians are going to be your hosts for tonight."_ Chaos motioned towards a nearby table, where the Mobians were dwarfed by the humans that were there already.

"Thanks!" Maria started over towards the table, Cap following behind.

"Mobians?" Cap repeated.

"Their home planet is called 'Mobius'," Maria explained. "It's home to both humans and the anthropomorphic animals. I've made a lot of friends among them."

The two reached the table as Sonic turned his attention away from a familiar brown Mobian with a shock of red hair on top of her head. Maria and he exchanged grins as she and Cap sat down in the only two untaken seats - which happened to be right next to each other.

"You got turned into a Vulpix again, right?" Sonic guessed from her right.

Maria nodded. "And you were the blue Sandslash I saw."

The hedgehog winked. "Yup! I'm glad that I could still do my Spin Dash, even if it was another move."

Maria smirked. "Rollout or Rapid Spin?"

"Rollout."

Upon noticing Cap frowning in slight confusion at the Mobian she was conversing with, Maria made a quick introduction. "Cap, this is Sonic the Hedgehog, a hero from planet Mobius and the fastest being in that sector of the universe. Sonic, this is Captain America, one of the Avengers from the Marvel Kingdom."

Sonic gave Cap a mock salute. "Hey."

Cap said nothing, instead giving the hedgehog a curious look. The hedgehog took note of this and grinned.

"Relax! I'm not going to bite your head off." He looked toward the other end of the table, where a black hedgehog with red highlights was sitting next to a teenage boy in a black costume with a "V" of cobalt across his front. "He might, though, if you get on his bad side."

"I'm sure Shadow's an old softie on the inside," a man wearing a red costume with lightning bolts remarked from where he sat on Sonic's right. "Not so sure about Nightwing, though." The man zipped around the table to Cap and shook his hand vigorously. "Name's Flash. I'm one of the Justice League members who came by for this little shindig."

"DC Kingdom, right?" Maria guessed with a smile. She held out her own hand. "I'm Maria White, the one Cap's partnered up with."

Flash accepted the gesture and shook Maria's hand. "Nice to meet ya, kid." He zipped back to his seat. "What do you specialize in, anyway?"

"I'm a fire user," Maria explained, "and my home is a bit of a nexus for information on all the kingdoms. For instance, you got your powers in a forensics lab when an accident involving chemicals and a lightning bolt occurred."

"Whoa," Flash stated, his eyes widening. "You'd better not say anything about who I am under the mask."

Maria nodded. "I won't, but I highly doubt that anyone here is going to travel to your world anytime soon."

"So you know who I am, then," stated a voice. Everyone turned their heads to look over at Nightwing, who was looking at Maria with a neutral expression.

Maria blinked, then nodded. "Yeah. You're Nightwing, a former apprentice of Batman's. before you were Nightwing, you were Robin. As for your own past and secret identity, that's for you to reveal, not me."

Nightwing inclined his head, then gave a nod in acknowledgement. "Good." He returned his attention to Shadow, who had been watching the human with what appeared to be minor interest.

"You know about these guys, Maria?" Sally spoke up from where she sat next to Sonic.

Maria smiled at the Mobian. "Course I do." She looked back over at Nightwing. "Batman and Nightwing were the first two human superheroes I was introduced to. Then came the rest of the Justice League and everybody else that I've run into." An embarrassed look came over her face, and she rubbed the back of her neck in a nervous manner. "In fact, I've kind of got a soft spot for the JLA because they were the first heroes that I ran into." She looked over at Sally again. "So, who did you get partnered up with?"

"Me," replied a voice.

Maria peered around Sally, catching sight of a familiar figure: a young girl with short, red hair, and blue eyes.

"Hey, Kairi," Maria greeted. "How're you doing?"

"Pretty well." Kairi smiled slightly. "I didn't expect myself to become a pink puffball, though."

Maria chuckled. "A Jigglypuff, huh? It certainly suits you."

"So, what about the rest of you?" Kairi asked, looking around. "What did the rest of you end up turning into?"

"Swampert," Cap grunted.

"Vulpix," Maria volunteered. She pointed at Sonic and Flash in turn. "And I saw that those two were a Sandslash and a Linoone, which I found odd on Flash's part."

"Why?" Flash asked.

"Because Linoone are only good at running in straight lines. The way you were turning corners back in Spacial Rip makes me think that Palkia managed to mess with your form so that you wouldn't be hindered."

Flash blinked. "Okaaay...?"

Sonic laughed. "That's Maria for ya! A walking Pokemon encyclopedia!"

Maria smiled wryly at Sonic's statement, then looked over at where Shadow and Nightwing were sitting. "As for you two, I'd have to guess that Nightwing was either a bat Pokemon of some sort, or a Murkrow, considering the name you decided to choose for yourself."

Nightwing's eyes narrowed slightly. "I was a bird," he finally stated, "but I didn't know its name. Batman was a bat creature, I take it?"

"Crobat," Maria confirmed. "They have four wings and are known for their speed." She looked over at Shadow. "And you were either a black Sandslash, or a Dark-Type that matched your personality and abilities."

Shadow gave a nod. "Mighteyna."

"So, what are your worlds like?" piped up a new voice. Maria looked over at the opposite end of the table Shadow and Nightwing were sitting near. Catching sight of the one who had spoken, a pink hedgehog with green eyes, she gave a half smile.

"Everything's pretty quiet at home," Maria stated. "Khrista's little game and big reveal that your world can be accessed did raise a few heads, but no one's tried going there as far as I know. Probably the only thing that is notable is I ended up getting Arceus' attention concerning a certain virus, but other than that..." She shrugged.

"Arceus?" Cap frowned.

"Super-powered Pokemon," Sonic spoke up. "Maria's friends with him for one reason or another."

"What can I say?" Maria asked with a chuckle. "I've got connections." She looked over at Cap. "What about you guys?"

"It's been pretty quiet," Flash spoke up. A frown appeared on his face. "Which is odd, since the Joker or someone else is usually up to something."

Maria frowned, as well, but didn't look too concerned. "Maybe..." She turned around, craning her neck in order to see what might be happening at one of the other tables. There was one table in a far corner of the room that caught her attention, as it looked like ose sitting around it were huddled around something.

Maria turned back around. "I think they're on that table over there." She jabbed a thumb in the direction of the table.

Flash turned around quickly in order to see what was going on. A moment later, he smirked. Turning to look at Sonic, he said, "Race ya!" and took off.

"Wha - hey!" Sonic looked indignant. "No fair getting a head start!" He leapt out of his seat and took off after the speeding human, who had started running around the dining hall. Two blurs, red and blue, started to circle the room, weaving around the tables at high speed.

Maria rolled her eyes as Shadow gave the two an annoyed glare.

"Does that...usually happen?" Cap asked.

Sally shook her head. "Sonic is the only Mobian who has any natural speed like that. He was born with it."

"Born with it?" Nightwing sounded slightly surprised. "You can't be serious."

"She is," Maria responded. "Shadow can mimic that speed, but only because of his hover shoes, which I don't think ever leave his sight."

The black hedgehog sent Maria a look, then turned his attention to his food - which happened to be a chili dog for some reason...

"Other than Scourge, Sonic really hasn't had any natural competition," Sally added.

"Scourge?"

Maria turned her head towards the speaker, eyes widening slightly upon seeing who was sitting next to Knuckles.

"What kind of animal is that?" the man in a yellow and black costume growled.

"An evil version of Sonic," Maria replied, slightly surprised. "He's had run-ins with alternate versions of himself before, and Scourge has been at the forefront of those encounters."

Wolverine eyed Maria for a moment, then let out a grunt.

There was a loud screeching noise behind them; Maria turned to see that Sonic and Flash had come to a halt behind them. The hedgehog walked back over to his seat, grinning triumphantly, but Flash zipped over to Nightwing for a moment, muttered something, then zipped back to his seat.

The look that came over the masked teenager's face made Maria force down an involuntary shudder. She had seen a look like that a few times before, but in person Nightwing's glare looked like it could kill a person if he looked at them directly.

"I take it that villains from your world will pulled into this, too," Maria stated carefully.

Nightwing simply scowled, but said nothing.

_"As you have all had at least a preliminary introduction to who your combat partners are,"_ Chaos suddenly spoke up, _"there is something that must be done before you are allowed to turn in for the night."_

Maria turned around in her seat, as did Cap and a few others, so that she could get a better look at the Mewtwo. The Reploid caught sight of the excited look in the Pokemon's eyes, and a smirk appeared on her face.

_"There are a few of you who look like you could do with letting off some steam,"_ Chaos continued. _"Two teams are going to fight tonight before curfew is called. One will continue on in the competition, but the other will not be allowed to compete - however, they will be allowed to remain."_

"Who's going to throw it down?" Knuckles called out. He cracked his namesakes, a smirk on his face.

Chaos sent him and Wolverine a look, then shook his head. _"Not you."_ His gaze moved to two other members. _"It will be Sonic and Flash against..."_ Chaos moved his gaze again. _"Bowser and his youngest son."_

The large, yellow creature with a green shell covered in spikes looked over at what looked like a younger version of himself. The two shared huge grins.

"Where to?" the larger of the two asked, looking over at Chaos.

_"I believe you may be familiar with the set-up,"_ the Psychic-Type replied. _"It is one of the many stages that have been used over the years."_ He started towards a wall, a pair of tall, wooden doors materialized - seemingly from nowhere. _"If you would follow me, please." _Chaos disappeared through the doors and out of sight.

The various people on the tables looked at each other. Bowser and his son got up from their table first.

"Better not keep him waiting," Bowser stated, grinning. "Come on, Junior."

"Coming, Dad!" Bowser Jr. jumped from his seat and scampered after the Koopa King, who sent a mischievous grin in Sonic's and Flash's direction.

Sonic glared after him. "I've been waiting to bust that guy's shell wide open." He looked over at Flash. "You up for it?"

Flash watched the two creatures for a moment, then smirked. "I'm game. Those two don't look so tough." He got to his feet, gave his combat partner a grin, then took off for the door. Sonic followed seconds later.

"We shouldn't leave them to have all the fun," Maria stated with a smirk of her own. "Come on." She got to her feet and started to follow after them. "There should be seats or something we can watch this from."

"What makes you say that?" Cap spoke up.

"I've read things with stuff like this before," Maria replied over her shoulder. "We're usually allowed to watch-"

The doors opened up again before Maria could get within a few feet of them, and Chaos stepped out again. He was followed closely by Sonic and Flash, who looked like they were a little scorched, but they weren't too damaged. Bowser followed, carrying the small form that was Junior. They looked a little worse for the wear, and the younger one was knocked out.

Chaos saw Maria standing there and gave her an apologetic smile. _"Apologies, Maria. It seems this fight went faster than the others. When I was about to bring you inside to watch, Sonic and Flash had already destroyed Bowser and his son."_

"Which means that Bowser is out of the running?" asked Cap.

_"Indeed. They will be allowed to stay here for the duration of the competition, if they so choose."_

"Yeah, we will!" Bowser responded. "I want to see where these greenies end up getting into!"

"Greenies?" Wolverine growled, standing up. "I'll show you greenie, you overgrown turtle!"

"I'd suggest saving that for tomorrow," Maria spoke up. "You never know what you're going to run into with all of these people around here."

_"Indeed,"_ Chaos agreed. Behind him, the doors shut tightly and disappeared. _"Tomorrow, we will start with the tournament side of the competition. Be prepared."_ With that, the Pokemon teleported out.

Bowser let out a grunt. "Stupid teleporters." He walked over to the warp panel that was located in one corner of the dining hall and disappeared.

"It looks like we've got the rest of the night off," Sonic noted. He zipped over to Sally, then disappeared in a blur of blue and brown for the warp panel. After he had disappeared, the others started for the warp panel themselves, disappearing in flashes of yellow.

Maria started for the panel herself, only to be stopped when a hand clapped into her shoulder. Turning, she caught sight of Cap giving her a concerned look.

"You looked a little worried when we got back," the Avenger noted. "Did you see or hear something that set you off?"

Maria blinked, then looked down and away, concentrating on a tile on the floor, observing the intricate pattern. "There's...someone here. Someone that I ran into the last time I 'world-jumped,' when I got into something that I had never expected." Her eyes flickered over to Cap for a moment; he had a neutral expression on his face. "His name is Dr. Albert Wily. He knows his way around robotics like they were human anatomy." Maria's own expression hardened. "And he did something to me that I don't prefer to remember, but I'm forced to because it's now a part of me."

She saw Cap's expression change, and Maria decided to tell him something else. Taking a step away from the Avenger, the girl's clothing flickered, then completely vanished, revealing something else underneath.

Cap's eyes widened as soon as he saw the red, orange, and gray armor which Maria was wearing. "What did he -"

"This isn't what he did," Maria replied. "Dr. Light did this," she motioned to her form, "to save my life when my own body couldn't stand the wounds I had been given in a stand-off against one of Wily's creations. What Wily did, affected up here." She tapped her head with a hand that looked like it was wearing one of Sonic's gloves. "I'd rather keep the rest of my story secret until another time."

She turned and started for the warp panel again, but Cap grabbed her arm.

"Will it affect how you fight?" Cap asked in a serious tone.

"No," Maria replied with a deadpan expression. "Not unless I let it." She slipped out of the Avenger's grip, then started for the warp panel. Cap didn't attempt to stop her again.

When Maria entered her bedroom, she let out a sigh and sat down on the bed, looking more ragged than she had been in the dining hall. Placing her hands over her face, she ran them through her hair, a worried expression appearing on her face.

"What am I going to be getting into?" she asked quietly.

**So, did you expect Cap to be the one Maria ended up getting partnered up with? And what do you think of the story in general so far?**

**Don't be afraid to review! And remember - I NEED ideas for future challenges. I'm asking you guys, all right? Leave them in the reviews if you've got any ideas.**


	4. Tournament (Round 1)

**Hello again!**

**So, we have a Wily in our midst and Maria has a little - no, major - problem with that. Hopefully, things won't go his way this time.**

**eclipse - I know, right? It's the major reason that I had him lose his mind at the end of the last one, although it seems that he's regained his sanity...at least, some what... And that racing idea could certainly work! There are a couple worlds that the SWT has access to that could result in some pretty crazy racing. I'm sure you know which ones I'm referring to.**

**Chapter 4**

Maria woke up the next morning with a lot on her mind, dampening whatever good mood that might have existed beforehand. She got up as her thoughts went back to what she had told Cap the night before.

"Should I have told him?" Maria asked, frowning. "I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to rely on that thing."

The Reploid turned her attention to the monitor, which displayed a very short message:

_"There will be a short respite from challenges, as we will be turning to a tournament-style elimination for the day. Your opponents will be announced during breakfast, so make sure you have everything you need on you."_

"Huh." Maria blinked. "I wonder if it's going to be one fight at a time, or everybody going at once." With this thought in mind, she stepped onto the warp panel and arrived in the dining hall.

The tables were still arranged in the same way they had been the night before. However, it appeared that those sitting at them had been switched around.  
It took Maria a moment before she found Captain America sitting next to Batman at a table that was clearly "DC Kingdom" based. Cap's shield, which hadn't been with him the last time the Reploid had seen him, was leaning against his chair.

"Morning!" Maria greeted cheerily as she approached and collapsed into the empty chair next to Cap.

"Morning," responded the figure sitting across from her: a muscular man in a blue, red, and yellow costume. The most notable part of the outfit was the giant "S" on his chest. The figure sitting next to him was someone who was also familiar to Maria: a scarlet-furred Mobian that looked like a cross between a hedgehog, an echidna, and a fox. "So, you're the one partnered up with Captain America? Maria?"

Maria gave a nod. "That's right." A grin appeared on her face. "And you're Superman, or Kal-El."

Superman blinked in surprise. "How did you -"

"You guys are in cartoons and comic books where I come from," Maria stated calmly. "With you and Batman especially, it's kind of a given to know who you are under the mask."

Superman glanced over at the Dark Knight, who was glaring at Maria. Stark, who was in his armor (minus the helmet), gave Maria an interested look.

The Reploid, catching sight of this, added, "No, I'm not going to say anything. They're your secrets, not mine, and I respect that. Besides, you guys were the first superheroes that I ran into. If my abilities end up setting any of you on edge, I can always try old-fashioned fisticuffs."

"Is your armor a part of that?" Stark asked, motioning to Maria's appearance.

The Reploid looked down at her form for a second, then smirked. "I guess you could say that." She looked back up at the playboy millionaire in the armor. "But the armor's augmented my abilities; it's not the source."

"It isn't?" Stark frowned. "Then why do you wear it?"

"It won't come off because it's a part of me. Simple as that." Maria shrugged. "Dr. Light saved my life with it."

"So...it's a support system?"

"Something like that. But there's more to it. A lot more." The Reploid grabbed a couple pieces of bacon and ate them quickly, then started to reach for a blueberry muffin. The basket they were contained in was too far for her, however, and she only managed to grab one when it was lifted up from the table by an unseen force and moved towards her.

"Thanks!" Maria grabbed a rather large muffin and took a bit out of it as the basket moved back to its original position.

"It was no problem," replied the source of the movement: a man with green skin tone, red eyes, and a red and blue costume of sorts. "Please, what is your ability? I doubt that you will have anything that would leave you completely defenseless."

"Well, water might short me out," Maria admitted, "but I'm not quite sure that'll work completely." She looked over at the telepath for a moment, mentally going through the list of Justice League members. Mere moments later, she not only found the name of the figure, but also his weakness. The Reploid's eyes widened. "I hope neither of us are forced to cross paths, Martian Manhunter."

The mentioned Martian frowned slightly. "Oh?"

"Y-yeah. If I got too carried away, I might end up getting the upper hand, and I doubt you'd want to be anywhere near me when that happens." Maria looked down at her muffin for a moment. "See, I'm kinda...a fire user."

Martian Manhunter's eyes widened. "A fire user?" A slightly nervous look appeared on his face.

Maria nodded, a grim expression on her face. "I haven't lost control of it, and I don't plan to, especially now." She finished off her muffin quickly, allowing the table to fall into an uncomfortable silence.

"She's telling the truth," another voice picked up - a boy with silver hair sitting next to the Martian. "Lea and I worked with her when she first learned about her abilities. You shouldn't have anything to fear from her."

Martian Manhunter gave Riku a slightly curious look. "Are you certain of this?"

Riku gave a nod. "Magic like what she has doesn't come unless it's summoned by the user. Maria won't lose control."

Batman looked down that table at the boy, his eyes narrowed into slits. It took Maria a moment to remember that the Dark Knight had run into magic before and didn't have a very good experience with it.

"What I do is nothing like what Etragan and his human host dabble in," the Reploid spoke up, looking directly at the vigilante from Gotham. This got Batman to turn his gaze on her, but Maria remained unfazed. "Probably the worst thing I could do is give you a nasty burn, if I don't rely on my secondary ability. Then you'd probably get blown into a wall."

Batman was about to open his mouth in order to issue a response to this, but another voice spoke up first.

_"The tournament is a test of your strengths and weaknesses,"_ Chaos stated. Maria turned around in her seat so that she could see him, standing in the center of he room. Well, hovering a couple inches above the ground, but still. _"You will face multiple opponents before the tournament is up, both strangers and allies. I myself will be competing alongside you, although without a partner that is present as I am known by enough of you already."_

Maria blinked, then frowned slightly. She thought through what she knew about Chaos, only for the Reploid came across what she thought the Mewtwo had meant. A smirk appeared on her face a moment later. "Tikal's a lucky Pokemon."

"Tikal?" Superman repeated.

The Reploid waved him off. "Someone from Chaos' past. Don't worry about it."

_"Your opponents have already been chosen for you,"_ Chaos continued, ignoring the interruption. _"The battles will take place at the same time, so you will have to choose what stadium to go to. If you wished to see one particular battle, do not fear; these skirmishes are to be recorded for your entertainment later."_

Maria relaxed slightly. "Good; I don't want to miss any of this." She looked over at Cap, a slightly bemused expression coming over her face when she noted that he had a guarded look.

_"As I find it likely that you won't allow yourselves to of wait for long, your opponents have already been chosen for you, on account of previous interactions between you and your opponent."_ He looked at Maria directly. _"Which, for some of you, places a lot of names on the table."_

Maria grinned sheepishly as a few people she knew looked in her direction.

Chaos waved a three-fingered paw, and a giant screen appeared on one of the walls of the dining hall. Photos of each of the members of the different worlds appeared, those who were partnered up located right next to each other.

Scarlet let out a whistle when she saw Maria's photo: she was standing in an attack stance in her Reploid armor, flames covering her arms up to her shoulders as spheres of fire hovered above her gloved palms. The serious and angered look on her face made Maria look like she was going to kill whoever she was facing.

"You look like you're ready to melt somebody," the Mobian stated.

Martian Manhunter flinched. Maria smiled sheepishly in response, then looked over at the photos again.

Directly underneath herself and Cap - who was holding his shield and looked like he was ready to throw it at the camera - were Knuckles (the red echidna was standing in front of a giant green emerald with a serious expression on his face) and Wolverine (who was snarling and in an attack stance, claws out).

Maria looked across the room at her and Cap's chosen opponents; the Mobian and the mutant were looking back at her, Knuckles with an eager look on his face, and Wolverine with a slight sneer.

"This isn't going to be easy," Cap noted.

"Both have short tempers, both have some sort of weapon built into their knuckles - literally, in Knuckles' case," Maria stated. "Knuckles is known for his tracking skills, as is Wolfie, so they're used to hunting down their opponents."

"And you are telling me this why?" The Avenger raised an eyebrow.

"I'm trying to get a feel for what sort of battle platform we're going to end up on," the Reploid replied, not looking back at her combat partner. "We could end up on some sort of forest stage that could play to their advantage, or a flat platform floating in the middle of nowhere...or some other place entirely."

_"The stages are randomly set,"_ Chaos continued. _"Where you will end up is up to the computer system. The rules are simple: knock out your opponents before the time is up. You will be allowed access to different weapons which will be produced randomly, including the classic 'Smash Ball'."_

"Smash Ball?"

Maria looked back at Cap. "I'll explain about what that is when we get to the fight. For now, just know it's supposed to give a lot of power for a short time to whoever gets it."

As the Reploid spoke, multiple competitors who had gone through something like this before grinned at each other with eager looks.

_"The rest, you will have to learn for yourself,"_ Chaos spoke. He motioned again, and the large, ornate doors that had appeared the night before reappeared. _"Go through those doors - you will be automatically transported to your battle location."_

Sonic grinned over at Flash, and the two zipped through the doorway with the same speed as they had the night before. Quickly, the rest of the groups followed at various speeds, Maria and Cap slipping through in front of Wolverine and Knuckles.

The crowd suddenly dissipated from around Maria and Cap, and the blackness disappeared soon after. A new place came up around him: bright blue sky; a desert.

Maria and Cap were suddenly dropped onto the ground, Maria letting out a grunt at the impact.

"Stupid floating platforms," Maria muttered as she got to her feet. The Reploid started to look around, trying to get a feel for the area. "Looks like some sort of plateau..." She looked over at the other side of the plateau, where two familiar figures were standing. The opposite pair quickly conversed, then glared over at Maria and Cap.

Maria rolled her shoulders back in a warm-up gesture. "Looks like we're going to be battling out in the open." She got into an attacking stance, balling her hands into fists.

"Logan is going to be as dangerous out here as he would anywhere else," Cap noted grimly, adjusting his shield's position on his arm.

"Yeah. I know. Knux will be, too." Maria got into a crouch, looking like she could take off at any moment. "Probably the only reason they're not moving now is because they're assessing us." She glanced up, scanning the sky for a moment. "Or..."

A loud horn suddenly resounded, and Knuckles and Wolverine dashed towards the two as one.

"I've got the angry echidna!" Maria called. She crossed in front of Cap and slammed into the Mobian, causing the two to go tumbling along the top of the plateau.

Knuckles let out a growl and attempted to push the Reploid off him. "You weren't wearing this stuff last night." He let out a grunt, causing Maria to roll off the echidna. Knuckles then leapt for Maria, aiming to hit her with a punch.

Maria rolled to the side, the punch making an indent in the rock.

"I can't pick stuff up for no reason?" Maria asked with a slight smirk. She jumped to her feet, her gloved hands becoming coated in flames as her core temperature rose. "Come on, Knux. What sort of World Jumper might I be if I didn't get an upgrade once in a while?"

Spheres of fire started to fly into the open, forcing the echidna to dodge out of the way, jumping backwards to a safe distance.

"World Jumper?" Knuckles repeated.

A red and white sphere suddenly fell from out of nowhere and hit Knux in the head, bouncing onto the ground between him and the Reploid. The echidna turned to look at it, but Maria made a mad grab for it.

"Let's see what's in this one," Maria noted, grinning. She promptly threw it at Knuckles, getting him in the schnozz before the ball burst open.

"Goldeen!"

Knuckles was hit with a barrage of bubbles from a gold and white fish with a horn on its head. "H-hey!" He brought his hands up to his face, trying to push back the water attack.

Maria lowered the heat in her left arm, redirecting the energy to her right. This caused her arm to transform, the gloved hand disappearing right before a cannon similar to the one Rock had used two nights ago appeared.

"Here's one more surprise!" Maria aimed the Buster at Knuckles and fired. A sphere of yellow, electric energy careened towards the echidna and hit him as the last few bubbles from Goldeen's attack hit him; the strange fish disappeared.

Knuckles let out a yell as the electricity enveloped him, arching over his soaked fur.

There was a snarl from Wolverine, who looked like he had Cap on the ropes on another section of the plateau, and he lunged for Maria, leaving the Avenger alone.

Maria caught sight of something else near her, and snatched it up and hit Wolverine with it when he got close enough.

The mutant was sent backwards, but he didn't land on his back, instead skidding on his feet. He glared at the large fish Maria now held in both hands.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded.

"This tournament has elements from the Super Smash Brothers competition," Maria replied, grinning. "That's more than enough to give someone a possible upper hand in any situation."

Knuckles rammed into Maria's side, causing the Reploid to loose her grip on the fish. As soon as it hit the ground, it faded out of existence.

"What is this armor made out of?" Knuckles demanded, pounding into the metal. "I'm not leaving any dents!"

"Like I know what Dr. Light used!" Maria barked back. Her entire form became covered in flames, forcing the echidna to retreat before he could become burned.

The Reploid quickly got to her feet, the fire dissipating. Before she could even get her bearings fully, Wolverine barreled into her, sending Maria into the ground. Again.

When Maria hit the ground, Knuckles yelled, "Get that ball!"

The Reploid's eyes widened, and she was instantly on her feet and looking around for whatever it was that Knuckles saw. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the multicolored sphere flying around above their heads.

"It's mine," Maria snarled, gritting her teeth. She dashed forward, seeing that both Knuckles and Wolverine were in front of her, and quickly formulated a plan that could get her to the Smash Ball.

Unfortunately, the Reploid never got to it.

There was a flash of red, white, and blue as Cap's shield went above their heads and slammed into the Ball, cracking the device and sending it lower.  
Knuckles then jumped up and crushed it.

The echidna's fur turned bright pink, and an eager grin appeared on his face. A moment later, a wide shockwave of power rocketed out of him, sending Maria and Cap flying.

Maria let out a yelp as she hit the ground, skidding nearly to the edge of the plateau. The Reploid got to her feet as Cap skidded to a stop nearby.

"That was a Smash Ball," Maria said quickly. "It'll take a while before another one shows up. Until then, we'll have to deal with Hyper Knuckles over there." She motioned to the pink echidna, who started to come towards them. "We're probably not going to have much time to clobber them before they do the same to us..."

The Reploid trailed off when she caught sight of something lying on the ground nearby: some sort of container with a gold base and opaque glass covering. It took her a moment to register what it was before a grin spread across her face.

Maria and Cap moved in opposite directions as Knuckles came flying at them. He turned and started to go for Maria, who rolled to a stop as she grabbed the item she had seen.

"When I let this thing go, who knows what's going to happen," the Reploid muttered. She started dashing around the plateau, doing her best to not only avoid Knuckles, but Wolverine, as well.

"What are you holding, kid?" Wolverine demanded with a growl. "Something else you're going to hit us with?"

Maria gritted her teeth, then let out a yelp when Knuckles slammed down in front of her, eyeing what she was holding.

"You're going to hand that over," Knuckles growled. "Now."

Maria held the device closer, protectively. "No, I'm not. You're definitely not getting this, porcupine."

Knuckles' eyes narrowed, and with a roar he came at Maria, slamming into her and sending the Reploid flying across the plateau for the second time. Cap managed to grab her before she went over the edge.

"Thanks," Maria stated as she got her footing unsteadily. "I knew Hyper Knux was strong, but..." She shook her head. "If I wasn't a Reploid, I wouldn't have been able to survive that."

Knuckles landed on the ground next to Wolverine, still glaring at Maria and Cap. A moment later, there was a bright flash, and the pink echidna returned to his normal coloring.

At the same time, Maria dropped the trophy, muttering, "We need an Assist."

There was a bright flash when the trophy hit the ground, and a moment later, three figures appeared in front of the Reploid and the Avengers.

"Hi!" the three creatures exclaimed together.

"We're the Warner Brothers," two of them said - one wearing only brown pants, the other with a blue shirt and a red baseball cap.

"And the Warner Sister," the third added. She was wearing a bright pink dress with a matching bow on top of her head.

Maria grinned upon seeing them. "Hi! I'm Maria - that's Cap." She jabbed a thumb in the Avenger's direction. "We could use a little help."

"Well, that's what we're here for," the black and white creature with the pants said. "What do you need?"

Maria pointed at Knuckles and Wolverine. "Those two could use a little loosening up." Her grin became wider. "May I suggest the Anvil Song?"

The three creatures **[a/n: who are also known as the Animaniacs in our world: Yacko, Wacko, and Dot]** looked at Maria with surprised eyes, then looked at each other and grinned.

"No problem!" the girl exclaimed. "Yacko! Wacko! We've got a request!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Yacko replied. He turned and dashed for the Mobian and the mutant, the other two following close behind as music started to play. Loudly.

"What did you just do?" Cap asked, giving Maria a confused look.

"It's called an Assist Trophy," Maria replied. She looked up at the sky with the manner of someone who was watching for something. "It let's you call someone in at random to either help or hinder you. I'm not sure which the Animaniacs are, though."

"You know them?"

"I've watched their cartoons. Those kids have done things to other people that could make someone cringe." A smirk appeared on the Reploid's face. "But they still manage to make it funny."

Black specs started to appear in the sky, but none of them were above Cap or Maria. They quickly grew in size.

"What _are_ those three?" Cap asked, looking at the Animaniacs as large anvils started to rain down around Knuckles and Wolverine.

"I don't know, and I don't think I'm ever going to find out," Maria replied calmly. It was odd, being able to speak over the anvils without having to raise her voice.

Right as the three animal-kids finished up their song, an especially large, shiny black anvil that was definitely bigger than a house slammed down on top of Knuckles and Wolverine.

"Bye! Thanks for all the fun!" Dot gave Maria and Cap a wave before she and her brothers disappeared in a flash of light.

The anvils, however, remained where they were, embedded all over the plateau.

Maria looked around for a moment, then walked towards the anvils cautiously. "Do you think they're done?" she asked.

"You tell me," Cap replied. "You seem to know more about this place than anyone else."

Maria let out a short laugh. "I doubt that," she stated. "Sonic's been here before, and he probably told Knuckles about it, since he knew was a Smash Ball was."

Just as the Reploid reached the anvil that had seemingly crushed Knuckles and Wolverine, there was another loud horn that resounded through the area. Maria, who hadn't expected it, let out a yelp and jumped back.

_"Congratulations!"_ A gigantic right hand appeared in the sky above them. _"You have moved past the first round of challenges."_

Cap moved back, getting ready to throw his shield at the hand.

"Hang on," Maria stated, putting an arm in front of him. She looked up at the hand with a cautious look.

_"As the two of you have proven yourselves - in fact, you have placed yourselves pretty near the top of the leaderboard."_

"Let me guess - Sonic and Flash're at the top?" Maria asked.

_"Not quite - I am afraid that Mario and his brother have taken that spot."_ The hand snapped its fingers, and a doorway appeared in front of them. _"You may return to the dining hall or your own quarters, if you wish. Dinner is within the hour._" With that, the hand vanished.

Maria and Cap relaxed slightly.

"That...was strange," Cap stated.

"I think he's one of the guys who's running this thing," Maria noted. She looked at the doorway, then started forward. "I could do with a little peace and quiet after that cacophony of anvils." The Reploid paused and looked back at the Avenger. "You coming?"

"In a moment," Cap replied. He looked over at the anvils. "Knuckles and Wolverine shouldn't be left there."

"I don't think you should worry," Maria replied. "This place is pretty much a digital realm where anything that happens here doesn't affect you out there. Knux and Wolfy will probably be sore, but they're definitely not squished." With that, the Reploid turned and walked off the plateau.

**There you have the first fight of the SWT - and the number of contestants has now been split in half.**

**Did you guys expect the Animaniacs to show up? Lea mentioned them earlier in the first chapter. Are there any other characters that you want to pull an Assist in later fights?**

**I know eclipse2012 gave me an idea for a challenge to use later on, but I want to hear what you guys can come up with as well. And don't forget to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again! Coming back at ya with another chapter!**

**eclipse2012 - don't worry about not knowing stuff (that's half the fun sometimes) - and yeah, I was kind of referring to that game (though Mario kinda did one, too...). Don't worry about coming up with new ideas - if they don't come to you or the other readers, they'll come to me. Simple as that.**

**Chapter 5**

The dining hall was bustling with noise as different heroes (and villains) from different worlds conversed in their own small groups, staying clear of anyone they didn't deem to be fully trustworthy. Maria was quick to note that the collective group of contestants seemed to have become even smaller than it had been before the fight.

_They cut us in half again, _the Reploid noted. _Are we going to get some rest time, or are we going to end up going at this so fast that it's going to be time to go home before a week is up?_

Cap walked over and stopped next to Maria, then turned and gave her a slightly curious look. "How do you know about all this?"

"I'm guessing, mostly," Maria replied with a shrug. "There's a few people who have suspected a few things on...an online source. I figured that they were probably right about something, at least." She gained a sheepish expression. "Half the time, I'm surprised at myself that I can manage to keep calm. It kinda scared me a little when I was spending my second time off-world." The Reploid chuckled nervously.

Cap raised an eyebrow slightly. "I doubt that you would be able to keep calm like that unless you had experience."

Maria let out a hollow laugh. "Me? Have experience? I've only gone to three worlds, and I took the back seat for most of the time when it came to saving them. You were right in the middle of the action whenever you were needed!" She let out a sigh and shook her head. "You're lucky, honestly."

Cap looked at the Reploid in surprise. "Lucky? How would you suggest that I am _lucky_?"

"People actually see you as a hero - they look up to you." Maria looked at the Avenger. "At home, the only people who I'be told are my parents, although my sister's probably suspicious."

"And you don't tell others because..." Cap trailed off, giving her a curious look.

"I just don't feel like I'm ready for all the attention yet," Maria admitted.

"Considering how calm you are on the battlefield, I'd think that you would be."

"Hey, Cap! Get over here!"

Maria and Cap turned their heads, catching sight of Iron Man with his mask up, revealing the face of Tony Stark. He looked impatient.

"Get over here, Old Man!" the billionaire continued. "There's someone I want you to meet!"

" 'Old Man'?" Maria asked, glancing sideways at Cap with a slight smirk on her face.

"He started that as soon as he learned how old I really am," Cap replied with a sigh of annoyance.

"If it makes you feel any better, you don't look a day over 35."

Maria offered Captain America a smile, then turned and started for another corner of the dining hall, looking for a familiar face that she could talk to about the previous challenge and what could be coming up next.

The Reploid soon found herself walking around, observing the different groups. It looked like her friends from other worlds were beginning to become good friends with the other competitors in the area, as she had suspected would occur between a few of them, at least.

"Hey! Maria!"

Maria turned her head, catching sight of a familiar red Mobian coming over. Like she had suspected, Knuckles was pretty much unscathed from their skirmish earlier.

"Hey, Knux," Maria greeted. "Sorry about dropping that anvil on you earlier."

"I wasn't expecting it, but Sonic warned that something like that might happen," Knuckles replied. "I just didn't expect that."

"The Animaniacs can be pretty random if you don't know what you want them to do," Maria agreed, smirking.

"Was that what those three were called?"

"It's what I call them." Maria shrugged. "Their names are Yacko, Wacko, and Dot. They refer to themselves as the Warner Brothers and Warner Sister. Don't know why."

"So, you met the local goof-offs?"

Maria turned, catching sight of Lea standing nearby with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah - they pulled an Assist Trophy and dropped anvils on Knuckles and Wolverine," the Reploid explained. "What happened with you?"

"Well, it wasn't anvils so much as getting pummeled into the rock," the Keyblade user replied. "Sora and his buddy caught me off guard, but they won't do it again."

Maria looked around for a moment, then caught sight of the mentioned Keyblade Master, who was conversing with Superman, Flash, and Sonic. "Did you beat him? Or did he beat you?"

"...the second one." Lea sounded annoyed. "Him and that lantern guy made a better team than me and one of those little talking animals."

"Mobians," Maria corrected. She blinked when Lea's other words registered. "Did you just say 'Lantern'? As in, Green Lantern?"

Lea blinked, then frowned when he saw that Maria's eyes seemed to have widened a little. "Yeah. Why?"

Maria started to look around with a little more of a rushed air. "Green Lanterns are pretty much like the Keyblade masters of the DC Kingdom - they travel from world to world and help the people who live on them. Besides Bats and Supes, GLs have to be my more favorite super hero in that area of the Multiverse."

Knuckles frowned. "What kind of people are these 'GLs'?"

"The Green Lanterns are a mix of races from across the universe," Maria explained. "At least one a planet, but some have more than one. Earth's a pretty good example of that - that planet's got three or four Lanterns."

"You certainly know your facts."

Maria turned around, and her eyes widened when she caught sight of the figure that was standing there: a young man with a mop of brown hair, wearing a bright green costume with a lantern symbol on his chest.

"No way..." A grin appeared on Maria's face. "You're Hal Jordan!"

The GL gave a nod. "And you're that Maria kid John mentioned. The one who could throw fireballs."

Maria chuckled lightly, looking embarrassed. "Yeah." She gave a shrug. "I've been a fan of you guys for a long time now - GLs and Justice League. You guys were the first heroes I was introduced to."

"So I've been told." Hal raised an eyebrow, an act which made his entire eyemask move in a slightly upward direction. "Batman seems to think you don't belong here."

"Is it because I'm young, or the fact that I know who pretty much everyone is?"  
Lea and Knuckles looked at Maria in surprise.

"You know everybody?" Lea frowned. "How's that possible?"

The Reploid turned to look at the Keyblade user. "It's like I told you when we explored Atlantis - I knew things because of movies, comic books, and video games. It's the same instance here. Only, I know a lot about the people only."

"I think that's what's got Batman so nervous about you," Hal remarked. "Kid, if one of the villains in the area got their hands on you, they could squeeze everything you know about us out."

"Or, I could just torch their faces and teach them to steer clear of me, or else they'll get White Flare'd," Maria replied boldly, grinning. A moment later, something at the back of her head warned her that there may be some truth to the GL's statement, as there was one villain in particular who was in the area...

"White Flare?"

Hal's question jolted Maria out of her thoughts. "Yeah. It's a super-powerful attack that takes a lot out to me, but deals severe damage to the opponent. I haven't made it a point to use it often, though."

"I've seen her use it," Lea volunteered. "Took out a whole horde of Heartless in a manner of seconds."

Hal blinked. "I take it that's a lot."

"You bet it is!"

Maria chuckled and shook her head. "I'm sure that there are some of us around here who have seen bigger groups of minions than what we saw on that day."

Lea gave her a look, blinking. "Are you serious?"

"Remember Spacial Rift? Imagine one of those rooms stuffed with giant creatures that could easily squish you if they stepped on you - and you're the size of a six-tailed fox." Seeing the look that was one Lea's face, Maria gave a nod. "Exactly."

"You've been in a situation like that," Hal noted.

"More times than I care to count," the Reploid confirmed. She gave a shrug. "I've lived without too many scratches, and I can do it again if I have to. Honestly, I consider myself lucky that Cap and I didn't run into any Monster Houses as we were working our way through." She gave Hal a curious look. "What Pokemon did you end up as, anyway?"

"That little yellow rat said I was something called a Braviary, whatever that means."

"Isn't that some sort of eagle?" Knuckles asked, frowning.

Maria gave a nod. "Basically, they're kings of the skies - they fear nothing." She gave Hal a smirk. "A lot like how you don't seem to fear anything and like to fly. That form fits you well."

Hal looked surprised, then smirked. He looked like he was about to say something else, but someone else got to it, first.

"Hey, Maria!"

The Reploid turned her head, catching sight of Rock standing not too far away with Dr. Light, two other young figures (one in red and gray armor and the other in a dress) and Keith (the midnight blue-colored hedgehog Mobian).

"Dr. Light's got a few upgrades for you!" Rock called out, grinning.

Maria's eyes widened. Knuckles, Lea's, and Hal's eyes widened, as well.

"Upgrades?" Knuckles repeated. He turned and gave Maria a look. "This is about what Tails and Kintobor did, isn't it?"

Maria's eyes widened slightly. "How did you figure that out?" She frowned slightly. "Did Sonic tell you?"

"He might have," the echidna replied cooly.

Hal and Lea looked between Knuckles and Maria with slightly curious looks. The Reploid took note.

Letting out a sigh, Maria stated quickly, "Let's just say I'm not exactly human anymore." With that, she turned and walked off in the direction of Dr. Light and the others.

"What do you have in mind?" Maria asked as she reached the group.

"A few weapon upgrades," the roboticist replied. He motioned for Maria to follow him, and the group fell into step behind Dr. Light.

Keith looked at Maria curiously. "Blues mentioned that you had been turned into something else, like what happened to me."

Maria looked over at the Pokemon Ranger-turned-Mobian and, remembering what had happened to him, gave a nod. "There are other things that happened that could be connected to you," she stated softly.

Keith frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

The Reploid leaned over slightly, and whispered in the hedgehog's ear, "Two words. Red. Chain."

Keith's eyes widened, and he looked at Maria in surprise. "You can't be serious. You ran into a version of _that_ in his world?" He motioned to the figure beside him - a young man dressed in red and gray armor with a white ponytail hanging out the back, a visor over the front of his face.

"In a way, yeah," Maria replied. "Tails and the Doc saved my skin, and for that I'm grateful."

"It was no problem for either of us," Dr. Light replied.

The group left the dining hall by way of the warp panel, which seemed to know where Dr. Light was heading and brought the group directly into a room with mechanical equipment that clearly looked like something from the future.  
At least, that's what it seemed like to Maria.

Dr. Light motioned to a glass cylinder that was standing upright. "Step in there, and I'll start the download." He moved to stand in front of a computer system and started to activate programs. Binary code started to scroll across the screen.

Maria blinked, looking at the cylinder for a moment, then around at the rest of huge room. Something about the room itself set her on edge, and when Dr. Light had mentioned a download, the Reploid had quickly realized why.

Mentally, she berated herself for thinking that way about a place that was being accessed by a trusted man right at that moment. Steeling herself, the Maria stepped into the open cylinder, which closed behind her.

Machinery started to power up as Maria felt her form rise up - the chamber was capable of creating some sort of odd vacuum. A moment later, the Reploid reflexively closed her eyes as she felt something enter at the back of her neck.

_Upgrade software found. Download? Y/N_

_Y. I'm going to need this._

Programming code started to flicker through the blackness of Maria's vision. While she hadn't spent much time with computers, the information she had obtained a few years ago allowed her to understand at least parts of what she was being sent. One section in particular really caught her eye.

_Flight capabilities? Is Doc going to attach a jet pack to my back?_

The data continued to stream in, and Maria saw the designs Light had in mind. It wasn't long before a smirk made its way onto her face.

The download complete, Maria opened her eyes as the vacuum died, allowing the Reploid to come into contact with the ground again. The wide-eyed look she was getting from Keith told her everything she needed to know about what he thought of her situation.

A smirk made its way onto her face as the cylinder slid open, allowing for Maria to step out. "What?"

"I-I just didn't..." Keith looked over at Dr. Light. "How often does she have to do that?"

"Only when I have something that she might find useful," the roboticist replied calmly.

"And I think I'll find this data packet extremely useful," Maria replied, her smirk widening into a grin. "Flight capabilities would come in handy."

"_Flight_?" Keith's eyes widened further.

"It's something that Dad wanted to test out for future future models," Rock explained. "Since Maria's the most advanced, well..."

"She was the most obvious choice," Roll added.

"Of course, I still have to add the mechanical capabilities so that you can use your flight," Dr. Light continued, he moved over to a nearby table where tools had already been set out, as well as parts that clearly looked like they might have been a part of Maria's armor. "If you would, Maria."

"No problem." Maria gave a chuckle and slipped onto the table, remaining upright, but leaving the bottom of her metal feet bared in Dr. Light's direction so that he could work on them.

"And this is where we take out leave," Blues stated pointedly, giving Keith a look. "Come on. We have to get ready if we are going to stand anything against some of these other groups." He grabbed one of Keith's arms and started to drag him towards the warp panel; it didn't take much to get the Mobian to move, however.

Dr. Light looked over at Rock and Roll. "Mind giving me some assistance?"

"Not at all!" the two chorused in reply.

**Time Break**

Maria walked off the warp panel and back into the dining hall, a little more bounce in her step than what had been there before.

_Next time I get into a fight, I'm going to use that flight tech to my advantage._ A grin flickered over her face.

Once again, the tables had reappeared in different areas of the hall, and the contestants were starting to move towards them in order to sit down and start eating. Maria caught sight of Cap sitting down near a big, hulking green monster of a man and knew who she was going to get to meet tonight.

Maria dashed over to that particular table and slipped into an open seat next to Cap.

"So, you're Cap's partner," a man in black with a quiver on his back noted. "Didn't think you'd be so young."

"I've seen a lot more than most people my age," Maria responded with a smirk. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"What has little girl seen that let her come here?" the green man questioned.

"Yeah - what makes you so special?" A man who appeared to be just as muscular and cracked like stone glared at Maria from the other side of the Hulk.

"You remember how big Palkia was?" Maria asked in reply. When the others at the table nodded, she continued, "I was in the form of a fox Pokemon when I first met him - and I beat him up while in that form. That's saying something, too, because Palkia could have just simply stepped on me in order to finish me off. And don't get me started on the other monsters I took down." She smirked at Hulk. "Most of them were bigger than you."

Hulk grunted. "Nothing bigger than Hulk."

"What about the frost giants?" Maria raised an eyebrow as a smirk creeped across her face.

Hulk let out a low growl.

"Giants?" Thing looked curious.

Hulk gave Maria a glare, then moved his attention to Thing and back. "They not human."

"Neither are Pokemon or creatures made completely of darkness. Or robots." Maria tapped her armor, then grabbed a Sitrus Berry and took a bite out of it.

Stark looked suddenly interested in Maria. "Wouldn't someone with systems like yours have a little problem with digesting food?"

Maria paused, her eyes going over to the man in the armor before scanning the table. She blinked before her form sagged slightly, and she let out a sigh.  
Removing the Sitrus Berry from its position in front of her mouth, she asked, "You guys heard Rock call about about the upgrades, didn't you?"

"Maybe," Hawkeye replied, smirking.

"And you...I think you changed your outfit." Maria pointed at Hawkeye. "I think you were wearing purple earlier."

"I wanted a change of pace," the man replied with a shrug.

"So, your systems," Stark piped up. "Were they built to handle food like that?"

"Yeah," Maria replied coolly. "Doc made it so that I can act like I'm a regular human when I want to." She took another bite of the Berry, then quickly finished it off. "It just helps boost my energy a little bit so that I can go a couple rounds without worrying about my core running out of energy."

"Core?" The girl with the yellow and black dress and antennae on her head gave Maria a curious look.

"What kind of power source do you think I'd have, Wasp? A car battery?" Maria let out a short laugh. "Nah. I've got something better, and you probably haven't heard of it."

Batman, who was sitting near Stark and was observing Maria, inclined his head slightly. "It's not from either of our worlds."

"That only narrows it down by two," Maria replied with a smirk. "But you're right about that."

"It has to be able to replenish its energy," Stark noted, frowning slightly. "It doesn't look like there's any sort of opening for replacements."

"Correct again," Maria confirmed with a slight nod. She grabbed another Sitrus Berry and started to eat it.

"Wanna bet it's some sort of crystal?" Thing piped up. Everyone looked over at him, and the hulking figure shrugged. "What? Richard and Susan talk about that kind of stuff all the time."

Hulk snorted. "Crystal break easy. No good."

"Some gems are tougher than you think," Maria replied with a wink and a smirk. She swallowed the second Sitrus Berry and leaned back in her chair, watching with amusement as those around her tried to figure out what she was made of.

Batman let out a low growl. "Something alien."

"In your opinion. Sometimes, it could be right under your feet and you'd never notice." Maria crossed her arms over her chest and watched the Dark Knight with a curious look.

"Are you saying you found something under your planet?"

"I didn't say it was my world," Maria responded with a cheeky grin. "If you can figure out where I've been, maybe you'll figure it out." She grabbed an Oran Berry and popped it into her mouth, grinning.

Hulk eyed Maria with a curious expression. "Bot Girl get beat?"

Maria gave the Avenger a disbelieving frown. "No, 'Bot Girl' did not get beat. Wolverine got beat - with an anvil." A grin appeared on her face.

"An anvil?" Hawkeye raised an eyebrow.

Cap let out a groan. "Don't ask."

"Three words: Kid cartoon characters," Maria stated calmly. Inwardly, she was rolling in laughter at the memory.

"Oh, _that_ kind of anvil."

Wasp let out a giggle. "Wolverine probably wasn't expecting that."

"Oh, he didn't - and neither did Knuckles." Maria grinned. "That made up for the little porcupine going Hyper on me and Cap!" She let out a short laugh.

"You mean that ball-thing that floated around?" Thing frowned.

"Eh..." Maria made a "so-so" motion with one hand. "Yes and no. The ball's called a Smash Ball. If you break it, you get a major energy boost and get to use an attack - called a Final Smash - that's unique to you. Knuckles turns bright pink and can fly around and throw energy blasts - his Hyper form."

There was a snort of amusement from Hulk.

"Yeah, that's what I thought when I first saw it." Maria grinned. "I don't know what breaking a Smash Ball's going to do for you guys, but it's going to pack a lot of punch - literally."

Hulk grinned and cracked his knuckles loudly. "I _like_ Smash Ball."

"I'm getting the feeling that I like it, too," Thing agreed, grinning. "Next time, we get the ball before the other team does."

"Yeah."

Stark looked slightly worried at the prospect of getting in the way of either of the two figures.

Maria shrugged. "Smash Balls appear at random. Sometimes they'll be there, sometimes they won't be. It might depend on how long the fight lasts and what both sides are doing. If you're already pummeling the competition, I doubt you'll need one."

Hulk sent the Reploid a glare and crossed his arms over his chest in a huff.

"I wouldn't be so down about it, big guy," Stark stated. "You're more than strong enough already."

"Yeah, yeah," Hulk grumbled.

"There's no one else in the world with your kind of advantage, friend," Maria pointed out. "Do you know how many people on my world idolize you for what you can do? For who you are?" She looked around the rest of the table. "It's the same for everyone else - you guys are major, but fictional, heroes where I come from. Movies, comic books, TV shows, and video games - you name it." She looked specifically at Batman. "You're probably the most popular of the Justice League right now, too."

The Dark Knight's mask didn't move an inch, other than the minute movement as his eyes narrowed.

"Seriously? Tall, dark, and gruesome here?" Stark jabbed a thumb in Batman's direction. "How can you guys find him popular?"

"He was one of the first comic book characters that ever came into existence. The comic book company, Detective Comics, or DC, pretty much built their universe off of him and Superman. They were the original heroes. When Marvel jumped on the bandwagon, Hulk was among the first they came up with. It took a while for everything else to fall into place." Maria smirked. "Funny thing is, my dad introduced me to Batman first in the form of a 90's cartoon. And, last I checked, they made a trilogy of live-action movies that really skyrocketed his popularity."

"I don't suppose you can say the same about the rest of us," Thing muttered.

"Two live-action movies, a comic book, and a cartoon for the Fantastic Four," Maria stated, pointing at Hulk's combat partner. "Iron Man's had at least four movies - both live-action and animated - as well as comic books, video games, and other merchandise. The Avengers as a whole have one movie - I've heard they're working on a sequel - and Thor's in two of his own, Hulk's got three, I think, Cap's got one and they're working on his second..."

Maria kept going for a couple other minutes, motioning to each hero present in turn, then stopped by saying, "Batman's got three or more cartoons, a multitude of movies, and his own comic book and video game series."

The group of heroes sitting around the table looked at the Reploid in shock.

"And that's just for the people at this table," Maria added. "There's a lot more where that came from."

"Kid, you're nuts," Thing declared.

"She isn't nuts, just...over-informed," Pika spoke up. He had been sitting on Thor's shoulder during the duration of the conversation, simply observing most of what had been going on. "Just like when the Mobians moved to my home world's past and she started to look into the ruins."

"During the time I had lost my memory," Maria reminded him. "Otherwise, if I had remembered before then, I would've gone straight to Sinnoh to ask Dialga and Palkia what was going on."

"Dialga?" Cap repeated, frowning.

"A Legendary that can control time." Maria waved his question off. "He doesn't seem to like to time travel as much as Celebi does, though."

"Who?"

"Do you really want to open up that well of information?" Pika piped up. "Because she could go on for hours about the different Pokemon we consider to be legends."

Maria blushed profoundly and rubbed the back of her head. Letting out a nervous chuckle, she remarked, "I guess that I could. Pokemon have always been a major part of my life outside of jumping from world to world." A nervous smile made its way onto her face.

"A video gamer?" Stark frowned slightly.

"A little." Maria shrugged. "My brothers are more into stuff like that than I am. But catch me anywhere with a DS and a copy of a Pokemon game..." She grinned.

"I suppose you're still the same way about your books," Pika noted.

The Reploid gave a nod and a laugh. "Yup!"

The rest of that dinner, the group Maria and Cap were a part of started to loosen up - but only somewhat. Batman said little to nothing, only interjecting when he wanted to ask (more like demand) to know something about Maria. The Reploid was quick to answer most of them (how many people made up her family; who knew she traveled from one world to another). And then there was one statement that he brought up.

"You say you have a human family, yet you're a robot."

"Reploid," Maria automatically corrected. "It's short for Replicating Android, since I can replicate being human mentally and emotionally."

Batman's eyes narrowed slightly; he didn't look like he cared much for being interrupted. "What happened?"

The question was a simple one, but Batman's tone clearly stated that he wanted to know as much as he could about Maria - and see if she had a weakness.  
At his statement; Maria froze slightly, blinking as memories slipped in and out - some of them she didn't exactly want to remember.

"I had an accident, and Dr. Light saved my life by transferring me in to this form," Maria stated as calmly as she could. Mentally, she flinched when it came out colder than she had wanted. "The accident involved a lot of shrapnel."  
The Reploid's eyes narrowed slightly as the calm look she had been giving Batman turned into a glare. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't go any further."

Batman returned the glare for a moment, then with a stiff-sounding "Fine," he moved his attention elsewhere.

_I've probably just given him an opening, _Maria realized grimly.

**Time Break**

Maria entered her room and collapsed onto her bed with a frustrated groan.

"Did Bats _really_ have to ask that?" she growled into the covers. The Reploid flipped over at glared up at the ceiling, her mind going over the one question Batman had asked that had caused her to close herself off.

_Of course he did,_ Maria's mind replied. _You're a suspicious figure - Batman's trying to figure out whether you're a threat or not._

"I can guess that, but it doesn't exactly help that now I know what it's like to be at the other end of his paranoia."

Maria's eyes trailed around the room, and then she caught sight of her backpack, sitting in a corner of the room. Slowly, she slid off the bed and walked over and grabbed it, then went back to her bed.

A few minutes later, she was scrolling through the entries in her PokeDex, occasionally pausing over one or another, as if considering something before continuing on to the next one.

**Oh, boy. Looks like Batman dug a bit too deep, there. Hopefully it won't result in either of them doing something they may regret later...  
Don't forget to tell me what you guys think!**


End file.
